The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
by Spixie4- ever
Summary: After Michael's shooting,Spinelli realizes how precious life is and makes his Maximista an offer she can't refuse.
1. Chapter 1

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

By: Spixie4-Ever

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Bob Guza, ABC, SoapNet, etc. This is written for fun, not profit and no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing GH fan fiction. I usually write Buffy, the Vampire Slayer fanfics, but this idea has been floating around in my head for awhile, so I decided to give it a shot. I apologize in advance if it sucks, but please don't be too hard on me. Certain lines of dialog I borrowed from the show for consistency purposes.

Pairing: Maxie/Spinelli

Chapter One

*****

As Maxie stepped off the elevator, she saw Spinelli sitting on a sofa in the lobby and hurried toward him. He looked up as she approached and smiled, but she could see the worry in his eyes.

"Fair Maximista, you have at last arrived."

She sat next to him and took his hand.

"I heard about Michael on the news and came as soon as I could. How is he?"

Spinelli shook his head, sighing.

"Young Michael Corinthos is still in surgery, but the Jackal fears the outcome shall be very grave and if so, the Godfather and the Valkyrie shall take it very hard, I'm afraid. As will Stone Cold, but we must send positive energy young Michael's way and not let negative thoughts cloud our minds."

"But Spinelli, Michael was shot in the head and even if he comes through the surgery, he could still die. He's by no means out of the woods yet."

He reached up and caressed Maxie's cheek with the back of his hand and looked deep into her eyes. He kissed her softly on the lips.

"Listen to me, alright? Little dude is not going to die, the powers that be would never allow such a horrible thing to happen."

Maxie reached up and tenderly brushed the hair out of his eyes. 'Always the eternal optimist,' she thought, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. No matter how dark the cloud, she could always count on her best friend to find the silver lining. She kissed him on the cheek and leaned back against the sofa. "It just seems wrong that someone so little would have to suffer like this. I mean, he's only twelve years old, why would God allow something like this to happen to an innocent little boy? It just doesn't make any sense."

"I don't have the answer to Maximista's question, nor do I pretend to know why fate allows things to happen as they do. But the one thing I am 100% sure of is that everything happens for a reason, even a terrible tragedy like this."

The elevator dinged and Jason rushed by toward the nurses' station.

"Where's Carly?" he demanded, out of breath.

Epiphany scowled at him, disapprovingly.

"This is a hospital, Mr. Morgan, not a roller derby. I would advise you to control yourself. Mrs. Jax is in the O.R. waiting room with her husband and Mr. Corinthos."

"Thank you."

As he started in the direction of the O.R., she called after him.

"You can't go in there, immediate family only."

As he walked away, he raised his middle finger and replied, simply, "I am family" before pushing open the door and entering the room where Carly, Sonny and Jax were anxiously waiting for Michael to come out of surgery. Carly stood up as soon as she saw Jason and rushed into his arms, sobbing. Sonny glanced at them briefly and then looked straight ahead again, but Jax thought he saw the tiniest flicker of jealousy pass across the other man's face.

"Oh, Jason," Carly sobbed, "He's our little boy, how could this happen?"

He shook his head.

"This is all my fault."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is. I should have let you pick Michael up from the warehouse when you wanted to, but I thought it was important for him to spend time with his father. Boy, was I ever wrong." he added, sending Sonny a look that could've melted a hole through sheet metal. Sonny strode across the room and grabbed Jason by the front of his jacket, getting in his face.

"Don't you dare, ever blame this on me. If you'd have been doing your job, instead of relying on your computer geek to look at surveillance tapes, my son wouldn't be in there fighting for his life right now!"

The next thing Sonny saw was Jason's fist flying toward his face. He stumbled and fell as Kate knelt by his side, looking up at Jason.

"Was that really necessary? This isn't really the time or place to be picking fights. All our concentration should be focused on that little boy in there."

Carly turned toward Kate.

"Shut up, nobody asked for your opinion, Kate. You shouldn't even be here. It's your fault this happened, yours and Sonny's. Why the hell are you here, anyway? You're not Michael's family; you're just his father's current hussy."

Sonny climbed to his feet and looked at her through his one good eye, the other one rapidly swelling shut from Jason's punch.

"Kate is here to be with me, to help me through this and I would appreciate it if you didn't call her names. This isn't her fault, she didn't shoot Michael; he was hit by a ricochet that was meant for me."

"Yeah, maybe so, but when you saw the shooter, you protected Kate, instead of Michael. You said you followed your instincts, Sonny, but those instincts should have told you to protect my son, not your girlfriend. I just thank God Kristina and Morgan weren't there, or we'd have three tragedies on our hands. At least Alexis has the good sense to keep her daughter away from you. Michael was grounded; he should've stayed at home, where he belonged."

"I'm sorry, Carly, okay? I made a mistake, alright? I had Kate bring Michael to the warehouse because I wanted to show him my legitimate business. I wanted him to know that he didn't need a gun in order to be a man and that he didn't need to worry about protecting you and Morgan anymore. I had no idea there would be a sniper lurking or that anyone had put a hit on me. I never thought that my son would have to bleed for me."

Sonny broke down sobbing. Kate stepped forward and put her arms around him, glaring at Carly.

"Do you think you're the only one affected by what happened to Michael? Well, I've got news for you, you're not. Sonny was the one holding his bleeding son while we waited for the paramedics to get there. This is tearing him apart just as much as it is you."

Jason stepped forward.

"Hey, you need to back off. Carly is Michael's mother; she has the right to react to this any way she wants to."

Suddenly, Jason glanced up and saw Spinelli gesturing frantically outside the window. He sighed.

"I'll be right back," He told Carly, as he walked into the hallway. She nodded absently and buried her face in her husband's shoulder.

"What is it, Spinelli?" He asked as he closed the waiting room door behind him.

"If Stone Cold no longer requires the Jackal's services, he wishes to return to the penthouse with Maximista as they are both quite exhausted from the day's harrowing events. Perhaps Stone Cold should accompany them?" he asked, seeing the tired look on Jason's face. He rubbed a hand wearily across his eyes and shook his head.

"No, I'm gonna stay here. Michael's surgery should be over soon and I wanna be here with Carly when he comes out. You guys go on ahead though. I'll call as soon as we know anything, alright?"

Spinelli nodded and took the bottle of orange soda Maxie handed him. She unscrewed the lid on her bottle of water and took a sip, smiling at Jason.

"You don't mind if I stay with Spin at the penthouse tonight?"

He shook his head.

"Naw, go ahead. I doubt I'll be there, anyway. I'll probably stay here tonight."

"Thanks, Jason."

"No problem, make yourself at home."

He went back to the waiting room, as Maxie and Spinelli, left the hospital, holding hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

*****

Spinelli and Maxie sat on the couch in Jason's apartment, holding hands and discussing the day's events. Spinelli gathered his courage and took a deep breath.

"Maximista, The Jackal wishes to…that is, I wish to tell you something of the utmost importance. If I have gleaned anything from the tragic events of this day, it is that time is too precious to be wasted, therefore I'm going to carpe diem, seize the day, as it were and tell you something I've refrained from admitting for far too long."

Maxie laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Spinelli, you're rambling, whatever it is you want to say, just spit it out already."

"I love you, Maxie and I want you to be my girlfriend."

Maxie just stared at him, too shocked to say anything for a moment. Spinelli began to look worried.

"Maximista is unusually silent, has the Jackal somehow unknowingly offended her? If so, he instantly apologizes and beseeches her forgiveness."

Maxie shook her head.

"No, you haven't offended me at all. I was just surprised by your question, that's all, I wasn't expecting it. Before I answer it though, I have a question for you."

"What might that be?"

"What about Winifred?"

"I can assure you, the Priestess poses no threat whatsoever, whatever romantic feelings she may harbor for the Jackal are not reciprocated at all. I told her once before that my heart belongs to another and any hope she may hold for a romantic relationship between she and I is futile. So, Maximista has nothing to worry about for she will always own the Jackal's heart."

Maxie looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Damian Spinelli, you are the most wonderful man I have ever known."

He could only sit there in abject disbelief as she leaned forward and tenderly pressed her lips to his. They had kissed before, but never before had he felt such desire in Maximista's kiss. When they broke apart, Maxie was slightly breathless.

"Wow," She whispered.

Spinelli smiled, shyly.

"Does the Jackal dare hope that his Maximista's unexpected, albeit delightful kiss means that she at last returns his affections?"

"My answer is yes, I've loved you for a long time, I was just too afraid to admit it, even to myself. Every person I've ever loved has either died or left me. Jesse, Coop, Georgie, BJ, even my own mother took off and left me. I didn't want the same thing to happen to you, that's why I never said anything, but I'm tired of pretending, Spinelli. I love you."

He looked deep into her eyes and felt his heart swell with so much love and desire he thought it might burst.

"I love you so much," he whispered, as he trailed kisses from her ear down her neck and back again. Maxie moaned as he lightly nibbled on her earlobe.

"Spinelli, I need you, please make love to me."

He nodded, and scooped her up in his arms.

"Come, my love, let us retire to the regrettably pink room and at last allow the Jackal to prove his love."

He carried her up the stairs and pushed his bedroom door open with his foot. Once inside, he laid Maxie on the bed and began unbuttoning her blouse as she pulled his t-shirt over his head. Once they had shed the remainder of their clothing, Spinelli stopped and looked at Maxie, caressing her hair softly.

"What's wrong?" She asked; as she reached up to softly caress his cheek.

"Nothing," He whispered, huskily, and Maxie saw tears shimmering in his eyes. "The Jackal is simply afraid this is but a fantasy, a figment of his imagination, but if that be true, he wishes never to awaken from this most wonderful dream."

"You're not dreaming, baby," she whispered as she kissed a path down his chest.

"Mmm," he moaned, as he felt her lightly bite his nipple. She reached up and brushed away the tears that had spilled onto his cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" She whispered, as she leaned up to capture his lips with hers. "I thought you'd be happy."

"I am," he replied, smiling down at her. "I'm happier than I ever thought it was possible for a mere mortal to be. You look like a goddess in the moonlight, my own Aphrodite."

Now, it was Maxie's turn to cry.

"No one has ever said anything like that to me before. I've been with a lot of guys, a fact which I'm not proud of, by the way, but not one of them made me feel as wonderful as you do. I love you, Spinelli. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."

"Sssh, it doesn't matter. All that matters is now, this moment and our future together."

As they made love, Maxie marveled at the tenderness in the act and realized that every time she'd been with a guy, it had just been physical, but this time, she knew what it felt like to truly connect with another human being in body, mind and spirit. When it was over, Spinelli, pulled her against him, resting her head on his chest and stroked her hair. He kissed her forehead and as she drifted off to sleep, she recalled the words he'd said to her in the warehouse.

'I've never been in a position to give my heart, body and soul to someone. If and when I do, everything I am will be all theirs until they wish to hand it back to me.'

It was in that moment, that Maxie realized she was in love with him and she vowed from this moment on that no one would ever come between them again and she pitied the poor fool who had the audacity to try.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

*****

"Oooh," Maxie heard a groan as she stepped out of the bathroom in her robe, a towel wrapped around her head. As she entered the bedroom, she saw Spinelli lying on the bed, looking uncomfortable. She hurried to his side.

"Spinelli, what's wrong?"

"It hurts," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. She smoothed his hair off his forehead and gasped.

"Honey, you're burning up. What hurts, tell me."

"My stomach."

"Don't move, I'm gonna get a thermometer and take your temperature."

She hurried into the bathroom and came back with a digital thermometer, which she stuck in his ear. When it beeped, she took it out and looked at the display.

"104.6, this isn't good. I'm calling the hospital."

He grabbed her hand, looking frightened.

"No, no hospital, please. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"You aren't fine, you're sick. I think you might have appendicitis. We need to get you checked out."

Maxie pulled out her cell phone and dialed the hospital's number.

"Elizabeth, its Maxie, Spinelli's sick. I think it might be his appendix. He says his stomach hurts and he has a fever of 104.6. Okay, I'll bring him in right away, thanks."

She hung up the phone and helped Spinelli up.

"Come on, baby, let's get you checked out."

He nodded weakly and leaned against her as she led him to her car and helped him in. She drove to General Hospital as fast as she could and walked her boyfriend inside. Elizabeth hurried over to them, pushing a wheelchair.

"What happened?" She asked, as she helped Spinelli into it.

"I'm not sure, when I got out of the shower this morning; I walked into the bedroom and found him like this. I took his temperature and then called you."

"What's going on here?" Patrick asked, as he passed by. He stopped and looked at Spinelli.

"Hey, buddy, what's wrong? You don't look so good."

Spinelli nodded, weakly, clutching his stomach.

"The Jackal feels most ill at the moment and is in copious amounts of pain."

"Well, let's see what the problem is."

Patrick wheeled him into a cubicle and pulled the curtain closed.

"Okay, tell me where it hurts"

"Right there," Spinelli muttered, pointing to his side. Patrick pressed down on it lightly.

"Ouch!" Spinelli yelped, squeezing Maxie's hand.

Patrick looked at Elizabeth.

"If we don't get his appendix out soon, it'll rupture. Can you call the O.R. and tell them we're bringing him up there?"

She nodded and picked up the phone on the wall. After speaking to someone for a minute, she hung up and turned back to Patrick.

"We're good to go, they're waiting for us in O.R. one."

He nodded.

"Get him prepped and bring him up there, okay?"

She nodded.

"Come on, Spinelli, let's get you ready."

She helped him into a gown and onto the gurney. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut as she started his I.V.

"Spinelli, relax, I can't put the I.V. in if you tense up. It'll go a lot easier if you relax, okay?"

He nodded and let out the breath he'd been holding.

"The Jackal apologizes; he's always had an aversion to needles. I don't handle pain very well, it's too painful."

Elizabeth smiled and patted his hand.

"It's alright, I'm all done. Now, I'm going to put something in your I.V. to relax you, okay?"

He nodded and closed his eyes, as Maxie smoothed his hair back and kissed his forehead.

"I love you. I know this isn't much fun, but you'll feel better when it's over, I promise. Do you need anything?"

Spinelli smiled at her.

"I love you, too, Maximista. Can you find Stone Cold and let him know I'm here?"

She nodded.

"Of course I can. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes.

"I'm getting sleepy. Will Maximista be here when I come out?"

"Of course I will and I'll find Jason and let him know you're here, okay?"

"Thank you, my love."

"You're welcome."

"Okay, you ready to go?" Elizabeth asked, as she pulled the bedrails up and prepared to wheel Spinelli toward the elevator. He was too groggy to answer, as she wheeled him down the hall and into the elevator. Maxie saw Robin walking down the hall and ran to catch up with her.

"Robin, wait."

Robin turned and smiled at her cousin.

"Oh, hi, Maxie. What are you doing here?"

"I brought Spinelli in because his appendix almost burst; they just took him into surgery. I need to find Jason and let him know, have you seen him?"

"The last time I saw him, he was in Michael's room with Carly. He's probably still there, why don't you go check? He's in room 322."

"Okay, thanks."

Robin smiled.

"No problem, and tell Spinelli I hope he feels better."

"I will, see you later, Robin."

"Bye, Maxie."

Maxie rode the elevator to the third floor and walked down the hall until she found room 322. She knocked lightly on the open door and stepped into the room. Jason and Carly looked up when she entered.

"Hi, I don't mean to intrude, but I need to speak to Jason for a moment. I'm so sorry about Michael, Carly."

Carly looked up from where she sat holding Michael's hand and smiled.

"Thank you."

Jason looked at her.

"Now isn't really a good time, Maxie, can it wait?"

She shook her head.

"Not really, Spinelli has appendicitis, he's in surgery now. He asked me to come find you and let you know."

After telling Carly he'd be back, he led Maxie into the hallway.

"What happened? He seemed fine yesterday."

She shook her head.

"I'm not sure. When I woke up this morning, he was still asleep so I went to take a shower. When I came out of the bathroom, he was lying on the bed looking really pale and moaning like he was in pain. When I touched him, I noticed how hot he felt, so I took his temperature. It was 104.6 and he kept complaining that his stomach hurt, so I called the hospital and Elizabeth told me to bring him in. Well, once we got here, Patrick examined him and said it was appendicitis, so he's in there having his appendix removed right now."

Jason shook his head in disbelief.

"Jeez, first Michael, now Spinelli, I swear, if one more person I care about winds up in this damn hospital, I'm gonna hurt somebody."

Maxie smiled, sympathetically and laid her hand on Jason's arm.

"I know it's hard, the last couple of days have really sucked, but Spinelli will be okay. I mean, people have their appendix removed all the time, you should concentrate on Michael. Carly really needs you right now and besides, Spinelli has me to look after him and there's no way I'm about to let anybody hurt my boyfriend."

Jason stared at her, not quite believing his ears.

"Did you just say boyfriend?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"You and Spinelli are together, since when?"

"Since ten o'clock last night actually, Listen, Jason, I should really go, his surgery should be over soon and I really wanna be there when he comes out."

He nodded, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, okay, I really need to get back to Michael, but listen Maxie, tell Spinelli I'll come and see him just as soon as I can, okay?"

She nodded.

"I will, I know he'll be glad to see you."

Just as she got back to the waiting room, Maxie saw Nadine and Epiphany rolling Spinelli's gurney down the hall. She ran to catch up with them.

"Which room are you taking him to?"

"215."

"Thanks."

Rather than go all the way back to Michael's room, she pulled out her phone and called Jason.

"Jason Morgan."

"Hey, it's Maxie; Spinelli is out of surgery and he's in room 215."

"Okay, Maxie, thanks for letting me know. I'll be there in a little while."

"Okay, bye, Jason."

"Bye."

She hung up and went to Spinelli's room. When she got there, she found him sleeping peacefully, a small smile on his face.

'You'd better be dreaming of me,' she thought as she took his hand, 'otherwise, you're in big trouble when you wake up, mister.'

As if he could sense her thinking about him, Spinelli opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Hey," he whispered, groggily, still half-asleep.

She smiled and kissed his forehead.

"Hey, sweetie, how are you feeling?"

He smiled.

"As long as you're here, nothing can be amiss."

"You're so sweet. I love you, Spinelli."

"And I you, Maximista."

"Oh, before I forget, Robin told me to tell you she hopes you feel better soon and Jason says he'll come see you as soon as he can. He's in Michael's room with Carly right now."

Spinelli nodded.

"How is the little dude doing?"

Maxie shook her head, sadly.

"He's not good, he's in a coma and I overheard Robin and Patrick talking and they don't expect him to ever wake up again."

Spinelli looked shocked.

"Oh no, that's horrible. Poor little dude."

Before Maxie could say anything, Jason walked in and approached the bed.

He smiled.

"Hey Spinelli, how're you feeling?"

"The Jackal feels better, although between the stitches and the I.V., he is still somewhat uncomfortable. However, it's nothing a little nectar of the gods won't cure."

Jason shook his head.

"You don't need orange soda right now, okay? You need to rest and concentrate on getting better. I need you back at work ASAP."

Maxie nodded.

"Jason's right, you do need to rest, I'm going to go home now, visiting hours are almost over. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded.

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too."

They kissed and she walked out of the building. Halfway to her car, she accidentally bumped into someone in the parking lot.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's okay, Maximista."

Maxie's head snapped up when she heard the other woman's voice.

"You," she gasped in disbelief, "what the hell are you doing here?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

*****

Winifred Leeds took a step back looking startled.

"Maximista, what gives you the right to speak to me in that tone? The last time I checked it was a free country; I have just as much right to be here as you do and furthermore, if you paid more attention to where you were gong instead of contemplating your shoes or clothes, or whatever happens to be in that vapid head of yours, you wouldn't have bumped into me."

Maxie crossed her arms and glared at the mousy FBI agent.

"Listen here, geekzilla, for your information, I'm here visiting my boyfriend who just had his appendix removed."

Winifred laughed.

"I must admit, I question the judgment of any man who would date you, it makes me question his intelligence. The most important thing in your life is that silly fashion magazine you work for and all those glitzy parties you attend, could you be any shallower?"

Before Winifred could react, Maxie hauled off and slapped her across the face.

"How dare you question Spinelli's intelligence, you bitch!"

Winifred gaped at her, her eyes growing huge behind her glasses and her mouth hanging open in shock as she rubbed her cheek.

"You're lying; the Jackal would never date someone as silly and superficial as you. He's a genius and you're…" her voice trailed off, as she raked her eyes over Maxie, contemptuously.

"Come on, say it, I'm what?"

"An airhead," Winifred replied, "now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to Agent Raynor's office immediately."

"Why?" Maxie demanded, grabbing Winifred's arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Why do you keep hanging around Spinelli, following him everywhere? What's your agenda, lady?"

"I had no agenda; however you just gave me one."

Maxie shook her head.

"What are you talking about? I really don't have time for this, I have things to do."

As she started to walk away, Winifred called after her.

"If you end your relationship with him now, everything will be fine and the flash drive containing the evidence against Spinelli will disappear as if it never existed. However, if you don't, I will hand that flash drive over to agent Raynor and your precious boyfriend will rot in federal prison for the rest of his life. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Maxie turned around, a shocked expression on her face.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?"

"That's blackmail."

"Hmm, you're catching on, maybe you're more intelligent than I gave you credit for."

Maxie shook her head.

"You know, I really feel sorry for you, you wanna know why?"

"Please enlighten me."

"Spinelli tried to be your friend, but that wasn't good enough for you. Even after he made it perfectly clear to you that you would never be anything more than that, you couldn't just accept it and move on. No, you have to threaten to put him in prison for the rest of his life, just because you didn't get your way. Not only are you two-faced to turn on Spinelli like that, you're also incredibly childish."

"He violated national security, I'm just doing my job."

"Yeah, you keep on telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night."

"Maximista, I…"

Maxie held up a hand.

"Shut up, I don't wanna hear anything else out of you, if you say one more word to me I will rip out your tongue and make you eat it and don't ever call me Maximista again, Spinelli is the only one who's allowed to call me that."

Maxie got into her car and drove away, leaving the stunned FBI agent in the parking lot. Winifred's eyes filled with tears as the reality of the other woman's words hit her. Wiping away her tears, she pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Agent Raynor, this is Agent Leeds, I have some information on Damian Spinelli I think you'll be very interested in."

They talked for a few more minutes and then Winifred hung up, a smirk on her face. 'If this is the way she wants to play, this is the way we'll play. This is by no means over, not by a long shot. Oh no, this means war.'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

*****

The next day, Maxie walked down the hall to Spinelli's room, carrying a grocery bag with barbeque chips and orange soda, his messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She stopped in her tracks, a confused look on her face when she saw the armed guard sitting outside the door. She approached him, shifting the brown paper bag to her other arm.

"Uh, excuse me, but who are you and what exactly are you doing lurking around outside my boyfriend's door?"

The hulking man looked down at her.

"I'm agent Smith of the FBI and I've been assigned to watch this room and make sure the suspect doesn't attempt an escape."

She looked at him as if he had two heads.

"Suspect, what are you talking about? Spinelli hasn't done anything wrong."

"On the contrary Miss, he has done a great deal wrong. Violating national security is a highly punishable offense."

"Violating national…" Maxie's voice trailed off as realization hit. Those were the exact same words Winifred had said yesterday in the parking lot when she'd tried to blackmail her into breaking up with Spinelli.

She sighed in exasperation and glared at the guard.

"She put you up to this, didn't she? Oooh, I swear that little cyber hacking, pigtail wearing, little House on the Prairie reject is so gonna pay for this. When I'm done with her, Winifred Leeds is gonna wish she'd never met me."

The guard did not look amused.

"It's also a crime to threaten an FBI agent."

"I didn't threaten you. For your information, I happen to be Commissioner Mac Scorpio's daughter."

"Is that supposed to scare me? You threatened Agent Leeds, I could have you arrested for that, you know?"

Maxie rolled her eyes and brushed past him.

"Yeah and the minute that happened, my dad would have your badge. Now, if you'll be so kind as to stop wasting my time, I have a sick person to tend to, thank you."

She walked past him and into Spinelli's room, closing the door behind her.

She set her bag and Spinelli's laptop on the table and kissed him.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?"

He smiled.

"Hungry."

She looked at the untouched tray sitting on the table and then at him, concern wrinkling her brow.

"You didn't like your breakfast?"

He shook his head and lifted the cover off the tray.

"I'm afraid hospital food is most unappetizing."

Maxie looked at the plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and oatmeal and wrinkled her nose.

"Ew, I don't blame you, I wouldn't wanna eat that crap, either, it looks disgusting. But you do need to drink the juice."

"I'd really rather not."

She pulled the foil lid off the cup of apple juice and stuck a straw in it.

"Tough, you're drinking it anyway."

He gave her a sad look and whimpered. She shook her head.

"The puppy dog face isn't gonna work on me, Damian Spinelli, so don't even try it. If you drink your juice, I'll give you what's in the bag." She teased, in a singsong voice.

He sighed and took the cup.

"Very well, I should have known it was fruitless to argue with you."

She sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed the covers with her hand.

"What's with that Hulk Hogan wannabe parading around outside your door? He practically tried to frisk me before he'd let me come in here."

Spinelli looked up in alarm.

"He accosted you? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Maxie shook her head.

"No, he just tossed around a bunch of empty threats, and tried to scare me, that's all. Why is he here, anyway? Something tells me this has Winifred written all over it. I knew she couldn't be trusted."

Spinelli sighed and shook his head sadly.

"The Jackal fears Maximista is correct, the "Hulk Hogan wannabe" as you have so aptly christened him showed up with a warrant for my arrest. As soon as I'm released from the hospital, I'll go to jail for what I fear shall be a very long time. I'm so sorry, Maxie, I never meant for any of this to happen, I swear."

He lowered his head and sobbed, his shoulders shaking. Maxie wrapped her arms around him and held him, rubbing his back soothingly.

"Hey, it's okay, sweetheart, please don't cry."

"I'm scared," He whispered, returning her hug. "I don't wanna go to prison."

"I know, we're gonna fix it, okay?"

She handed him a tissue and he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"How?"

"I don't exactly know yet, but I'll figure something out, I promise. Winifred is not gonna get away with this."

Spinelli shook his head, sighing.

"The Jackal can't believe he was so incredibly foolish and naïve to think the Priestess actually wanted to be his friend. She had her own agendas where I was concerned and when I didn't give her what she wanted, she turned on me. I feel like such a fool."

Maxie shook her head.

"You are not a fool. Please, don't feel that way. It's not your fault she's a traitor."

"Yes, it is. Maximista was correct when she said that I'm childlike when it comes to people and what they're not really saying. I may rule cyberspace, but in reality, well, the Jackal struggles and I know that people mock me behind my back."

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do, why else would Mr. Corinthos, Sir always call me freaky boy all the time?"

"Sonny does that because he's a jerk who has no consideration for anyone's feelings but his own. You are not a freak and I don't ever wanna hear you call yourself a freak again, do you understand me?"

He nodded and blew his nose on the tissue she handed him; then crumpled it into a ball and hurled it toward the trash can. He sighed.

"This blows chunks. You're the only thing in my life that doesn't completely suck right now. If it weren't for you, I'd lose my mind."

Maxie closed her eyes and looked at him through lowered lashes, she smiled coyly.

"Oh, I don't know about that," she purred, in a sexy whisper, "I can suck, too, especially if you ask nicely."

Spinelli blushed.

"Maximista, you shouldn't be talking about _that_ here. It's a hospital for goodness sakes."

She laughed.

"You're blushing, you should see your face; it's a red as a stop light, but hey, at least I got you to smile, didn't I?"

He nodded.

"That you did, I'm sorry I've been so down in the dumps today, but the idea of federal prison tends to depress me."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, impatiently.

"Oh ye of little faith, how many times do I have to say this before it sinks into that thick skull of yours? You are not going to prison, pigs will fly before I let that happen, so just stop talking about it, okay? I told you I will fix it."

"And just how, pray tell, do you plan to do that?"

"I'm going to guilt trip Winifred the stalker nerd into using her clearance to break into FBI headquarters and steal the evidence against you, and then I'm going to destroy it."

He shook his head.

"No, it's too risky; I cannot allow it, what if you get caught? Then you'll be in trouble too. I won't let that happen."

"Relax, Spinelli, I have no intention of getting caught, okay? I've pulled off bigger schemes than this before."

He sighed and shook his head, setting the empty juice cup on the table.

"Fine, just be careful, alright, please?"

She nodded.

"I will, I promise. Now for the stuff I brought you."

She unpacked the bag and smiled.

"Orange soda, barbeque chips and chocolate doughnuts from Kelly's, Mike made them fresh this morning. He figured you'd be hungry because like you said, hospital food is nasty."

He nodded and opened the doughnut box.

"Indubitably, thank you for bringing me something edible."

As he ate, Maxie filled him in on her plan to get Winifred to help her destroy the evidence against him. He nodded and smiled at her.

"That's so crazy, it just might work. You're a genius, Maximista."

"Thank you, I'll be back in a little while, I'm gonna go find little miss FBI agent and put my plan in motion. Enjoy your breakfast, sweetheart."

He smiled.

"Okay, I love you, be careful."

"I will and I love you, too"

As Maxie drove to FBI headquarters, she pulled out her cell phone and called Winifred, doing her best to sound upset.

"Winifred, its Maxie, listen, I know you and I don't exactly get along, but Spinelli needs your help. He got some kind of infection after his surgery and he's really sick and the doctor said if they can't get it under control, he'll die."

Winifred gasped on the other end of the phone and Maxie smiled to herself. Her plan was working perfectly; she had the little nerd right where she wanted her. Spinelli's name was as good as cleared.

"Oh no, is there anything I can do to help? I'll do absolutely anything to help Mr. Jackal."

"Anything?" Maxie asked, as she stopped at a stop sign and waited for a man walking a large German Sheppard to cross the street.

"Anything." Winifred reiterated, heatedly, "after all, I'm the reason he's in this mess to begin with, I owe him."

'Damn right you do," Maxie thought, smiling in satisfaction at how easy this was turning out to be. "Okay, Winifred, here's what I need you to do."

*****

Spinelli looked at his watch for about the millionth time in two hours. Maxie should have been back by now; he just hoped her harebrained scheme wouldn't get her arrested. In an effort to distract himself, he plugged his earphones into his laptop and turned on some music. Halfway through the third song, he sighed in frustration and shut down his computer, placing it back in his messenger bag.

'She should've been back by now; it's been over three hours since she left. What if she's in trouble and needs my help, but can't contact me for some reason? I must rescue my lady love from certain doom.' Having decided this, he began unhooking the various wires attaching him to machines. As he pulled the stickers attaching him to the heart monitor off his chest, the machine began to emit an annoyingly high-pitched and persistent beeping sound. He stood up, wincing in pain as the movement pulled his stitches. Robin came running into the room and hurried over to him.

"Spinelli, what do you think you're doing? Get back in bed right now."

He shook his head.

"Negative, I must rescue Maximista from whatever peril she has most undoubtedly gotten herself into. I have to go now."

She shook her head and guided him back to the bed.

"No, sir, the only thing you have to do right now is get back into bed, okay? I need you to rest. I'm sure Maxie isn't in any trouble and she'll be back soon."

"No, you don't understand, I have to rescue her."

Robin shook her head emphatically.

"No, Spinelli, you need to lie down _now! _If you're not careful, you'll pop your stitches, then it could get infected and you'd end up even sicker than you already are. If you don't get back in bed right now, I will have no choice but to sedate you."

With a defeated sigh, Spinelli climbed back into the bed and Robin hooked all the monitors back up.

"There, please don't try anything like that again, okay?"

He nodded, weakly. Robin looked concerned.

"Spinelli, are you feeling alright?"

He shook his head.

"I feel rather lightheaded all of a sudden."

Robin nodded and placed her palm against his forehead.

"You do feel a little warm; try to sleep for awhile, okay? I'll come back and check on you in a little bit."

Before she could get out the door, he called her back.

"Dr. Scorpio, I'm…"

She turned around just in time to see him cover his mouth with his hand. She grabbed a small plastic pan and got to him just in time. He collapsed back against the pillow, pale and clammy. Robin placed a wet rag on his forehead.

"Can I get you anything?"

He nodded.

"Maximista, I need her."

She nodded.

"I'll call her and tell her to come back here now, okay? You just rest."

He nodded and closed his eyes as Robin walked into the hallway and called Maxie.

"Hello?"

"Maxie, it's Robin, you need to get back to the hospital now."

"What happened, is Spinelli okay?"

"No, he got worried about you and tried to leave. Luckily, I stopped him, but he's running another fever and he just got sick to his stomach, he's asking for you."

"Okay, I'm on my way; I'll be there as soon as I can."

Maxie hung up the phone and sped toward the hospital as fast as she could, praying all the while that he was going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

*****

Maxie ran into Spinelli's room and over to the bed. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"You're back."

She nodded.

"Robin called and said you were sick again and wanted me, so I came back. She also told me you tried to leave the hospital. Spinelli, what were you thinking, do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"I was worried about you, you were gone longer than I expected you to be; I thought something had happened to you."

She shook her head.

"I told you everything was gonna be fine, didn't I?"

He nodded and glanced toward the door lowering his voice.

"Did you manage to dispose of the you know what?"

She nodded.

"It's been destroyed, there's no way anyone can link you to anything anymore. You're in the clear, they have no proof."

He sighed.

"Thank goodness. I feel like a giant weight has just been lifted off my shoulders, I'm so relieved."

Maxie looked at him with concern and put her hand against his cheek.

"You're also really hot," She took the rag off his forehead and carried it to the sink. "I still can't believe you pulled such a dumb stunt like that. Now, you're getting sick again, which means you're gonna be stuck here even longer."

He shook his head.

"I feel fine, honest." He said in an unconvincing tone.

Maxie smiled and put the rag back on his forehead, shaking her head.

"You're not a very good liar, you know. Tell me the truth, how do you really feel?"

He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Tired and weak."

She ran her fingers through his hair, tenderly.

"Poor baby, does anything hurt, are you in any pain?"

He shook his head.

"I'm just exhausted, I have no energy."

Maxie pulled a chair up beside his bed and sat down, taking his hand.

"Try to get some sleep, okay? I'll be here when you wake up, I love you."

"Love you too." He whispered, as he drifted off to sleep. Robin entered the room and walked to Spinelli's beside. She smiled at Maxie.

"I need to check his vitals, how's he doing?"

Maxie shook her head.

"He's really weak and he feels warm to me. I'm worried, Robin, what if he gets some kind of infection or something?"

She shook her head as she adjusted the drip on his I.V.

"That's why he's here, Maxie, so we can keep an eye on him, he does have a fever, but it's not as high as it was when you brought him in. I'm going to start him on some antibiotics to try to get his temperature back down to normal. Once it's normal, he should be able to go home in a day or two, barring any further complications of course."

Maxie looked at her cousin in alarm.

"What do you mean, barring any further complications, what kind of complications? Robin, what's wrong with him? He was fine when I left and now he's sick again. Please be honest with me."

Robin put her hands on Maxie's shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Right now he's running a 102 temperature, that's all I know until we run some tests. Hopefully, the antibiotics will bring his fever down."

"What if they don't work?"

"If they don't work, we'll find something that will."

Suddenly, Spinelli started shaking his head and moaning.

"No, you can't have her, I won't let you. I will fight for Maximista to the death, Mob Prince."

Maxie glanced at Robin and stood up, leaning over Spinelli's bed.

"Sweetheart, wake up, you're having a bad dream."

He opened his eyes and looked around.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"The Mob Prince, he threatened to duel me for your hand."

"Johnny's not here, honey, it was just a dream, everything's alright."

He looked confused for a moment; he rubbed his eyes and let his hand fall back to his side, limply. Maxie took his hand.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know, I just don't feel well. I wanna go home."

"I know, honey, but you can't, not yet. You have to get well, first."

He sighed and closed his eyes as Robin took his pulse.

"Spinelli, your pulse is racing, you need to stay calm."

She put a stethoscope against his chest.

"Can you take a deep breath for me?"

He took a deep breath and winced.

"That hurts."

Robin took the stethoscope out of her ears and looked at him.

"Your chest hurts?"

"Yes."

"Are you having trouble breathing?"

He nodded.

"Why didn't you say something?"

He shrugged.

"I didn't want to worry Maxie."

Maxie crossed her arms and looked at him, sternly.

"I'm already worried, especially now. I knew something bad was gonna happen when you tried to take off like that. When I asked you if you were in any pain, you told me no, why did you lie?"

He sighed.

"Maximista, I just told you, I didn't wanna worry you. Now, please don't yell at me, okay?"

She sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you, that's all."

He smiled and kissed her hand.

"The Jackal appreciates his love's concern, but I'm sure it's nothing."

"Chest pain and trouble breathing is not nothing, not to mention the fever."

Robin squeezed his shoulder.

"She's right, Spinelli, I'm afraid you might have an infection of some kind. I want a chest x-ray to be sure, once we figure out what's wrong, we can treat you and you'll be that much closer to getting out of here. I know you want to go home."

He nodded.

"Indeed I do, very much."

"Okay then, if you want to go home, I need your co-operation, okay?"

He nodded.

She walked into the hallway and came back with a wheelchair. She helped Spinelli into it and wheeled him down the hall. While he was gone, Maxie sat on his bed and cried. 'He can't be really sick, he just can't. I should never have left him, then he never would've tried to leave the hospital to come find me. This is all my fault.'

"Maxie?"

She jumped and looked up to find Lulu standing in the doorway. She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Hi Lulu, what are you doing here?"

Lulu entered the room and sat in the chair beside the bed.

"I was visiting Michael and Jason told me about Spinelli. He said the surgery went well, so why are you crying? Did something happen?"

Maxie nodded.

"After the surgery, Spinelli tried to leave the hospital and now he has some kind of infection and it's all my fault."

Lulu looked surprised.

"Oh, wow, why did he try to leave and how is it your fault?"

Maxie shook her head.

"It's a really long story that I don't really feel like getting into right now, suffice it to say, I had to run an errand that took longer than I thought it would, Spinelli got worried about me and tried to go rescue me. Luckily, Robin caught him before he got too far, but due to all the excitement, he got sick and started running a fever again and now he's having chest x-rays done to find out why he can't breathe."

Lulu hugged Maxie sympathetically.

"Wow, that really sucks. But Maxie, it doesn't mean it's your fault, 'cause it's not. You didn't make him sick and he won't want you to blame yourself for this. So, quit being so hard on yourself, okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay."

Lulu smiled.

"I have an idea."

"What's that?"

"Let's go to build-a-bear workshop and make Spinelli a teddy bear, what do you say?"

Maxie looked skeptical.

"I don't know, Lulu. You know how badly Spinelli wants to be considered macho, he might be offended by a teddy bear."

Lulu shook her head.

"Why would he be offended? He'll probably think it's sweet."

"But teddy bears are kinda girly, he might think we're making fun of him or something."

"He won't, trust me. I have a specific idea for this teddy bear. It'll be very unique, just like him. He'll love it, I promise."

Maxie shrugged.

"Okay, if you say so."

Robin wheeled him back into the room. He smiled when he saw Lulu.

"Greetings, Blonde One."

She smiled and hugged him.

"Hey, Spinelli, how're you feeling?"

He shook his hand.

"So-so, I've been better."

"Awww, I'm sorry, if it's okay with you, I'm going to kidnap your girlfriend for a little while, I need her help with something."

He nodded as Robin helped him back into bed and left the room. Maxie kissed him.

"I'll be back in a little while, please don't attempt any more escapes while I'm gone, alright?"

"I won't," he mumbled, already half-asleep, "I'm too tired to move."

She nodded.

"Get some rest and I'll see you soon."

As they walked to the parking lot, Maxie turned to Lulu.

"You called me his girlfriend back there. How did you know we were together, did Jason say something?"

Lulu shook her head.

"No, but it's obvious you two are crazy about each other, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It's obvious you make Spinelli happy and I know he loves you and I honestly believe you love him, too, but I want you to know that if you break his heart, I won't hesitate to kick your butt."

Maxie laughed.

"Yeah, right, like you could. But don't worry, you won't even get a chance to try because I have no intention of hurting him, ever."

Lulu smiled as they got into her car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Good."

They drove in silence. Lulu pulled into the parking lot and they walked into the store to complete their secret mission.

******

Maxie walked into Spinelli's room, carrying a large white box with a red ribbon wrapped around it. Spinelli was sleeping, so she set the box on a table and stared at her boyfriend's sleeping form. 'He looks so cute when he's asleep,' she thought as she straightened his blankets and kissed his forehead. He smiled, but never opened his eyes.

Elizabeth entered the room and smiled.

"Hi, Maxie, how are you?"

"Hey, Elizabeth, I'm good."

"That's good to hear."

She glanced at Spinelli as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm.

"Still sleeping, I see, he was the last time I was in here, too."

They both paused and listened as Spinelli mumbled something.

"Oooh, Maximista, yeah, baby."

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter as it became apparent what the young computer hacker was dreaming about, or rather, whom.

"Oh, my God," Maxie moaned, burying her face in her hands, as she felt herself start to blush. "Why, oh why does he have to talk in his sleep? Remind me to kill him when he wakes up, okay?"

Elizabeth chuckled and patted Maxie on the shoulder.

"Don't be embarrassed, lots of guys have dreams like that, it's perfectly normal."

She nodded.

"I know, it's still embarrassing though."

"Don't be embarrassed, it just means he loves you, that's all."

Maxie nodded.

"Yeah, I know."

Elizabeth picked up her clipboard and left the room.

"See you later, Maxie."

"Bye, Elizabeth."

Suddenly, Spinelli opened his eyes.

"Maximista," He said, in a groggy voice. "Is that you?"

"It's me," she said, as she stood up and leaned over his bed. "How are you feeling?"

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.

"A little better. When did you get back?"

Maxie picked up the box.

"About twenty minutes ago, Lulu dropped me off and went home to get ready for her date tonight. I brought you something."

His eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning, as Maxie placed the giant package in his lap.

"What is it?"

"Well, open it and find out. I hope you like it, Lulu said you would, but just so you know, if you hate it, it was all her idea."

Spinelli shook his head as he took the lid off the box.

"I could never hate a gift from you or fair Lulu."

He lifted it out of the box and looked at it, a giant smile lighting up his face. It was a stuffed panda bear holding a miniature laptop computer on it's lap and wearing a black knit cap and a blue sweatshirt with ' The Jackal' printed in bright orange letters across the front. Maxie pointed.

"Squeeze his paw."

Spinelli looked confused.

"Okay, why?"

"You'll see, just do it."

Spinelli squeezed the bear's paw and smiled when he heard what it said.

"Greetings, I am The Jackal, the ace of cyberspace."

"That's adorable. Where did you find it?"

"We went to build a bear workshop and had it custom made just for you. Do you like it?"

He shook his head.

"No."

Maxie looked disappointed.

Spinelli smiled.

"I love it."

Maxie grinned and swatted him with her hand.

"Ohh, Damian Spinelli, I'm gonna get you for that."

He raised his hands and pretended to fend her off.

"Oh, no, please have mercy, oh lovely one."

Maxie smiled and hugged him.

"You really are feeling better, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"You're the best medicine I could ever have."

"You're sweet, but I have a bone to pick with you."

He looked nervous.

"Uh-oh, what did I do?"

"You talk in your sleep, did you know that?"

He shook his head.

"The Jackal was not aware of it, no."

"Well, you do and Elizabeth was in here when you were dreaming about me and I was really embarrassed."

He blushed as he recalled the dream he'd been having earlier.

"I'm sorry, Maximista. If I'd been at all aware of my actions, I never would have embarrassed you like that."

She smiled.

"It's alright, it's not like you did it on purpose. You didn't even know you were doing it. So, tell me, was it a good dream?"

He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Most definitely."

"Well, the sooner you get well and get outta here, the sooner I can make it come true."

He yawned.

"I'm tired."

She kissed him.

"Get some rest, I'll be back first thing in the morning, okay?"

He nodded.

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too."

As she drove home, Maxie couldn't stop smiling. It seemed as if Cupid had finally smiled on her for once and she prayed that she would never lose him, 'cause if she did, she knew she wouldn't want to go on living.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

******

One Month Later…

Maxie sat on the closed toilet seat, staring at the little plastic stick with tear-filled eyes. She blinked, praying valiantly that her eyes were playing tricks on her, no such luck. The pregnancy test still read the same: positive. She jumped when someone knocked on the door.

"Maximista, are you alright?"

She stood up and dropped the pregnancy test into the trashcan, hurriedly wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I'm fine; I'll be out in a second."

She opened the bathroom door to find Spinelli standing there with a very worried look on his face.

"Spin, when did you get here?"

"About five minutes ago, the Mob Prince let me in, are you ready to go?"

She looked at him, apologetically.

"Would you be very disappointed if we didn't go out tonight?"

He frowned.

"But I thought you wanted to see this movie, when I stopped by Crimson this afternoon, you seemed very excited about it. What changed? Has the Jackal done something wrong?"

She shook her head.

"No, honey, I'm just not feeling very well, that's all."

Maxie hated the crestfallen look on his face, the dejected slump of his shoulders and wished more than anything she could tell him her real reason for breaking their date; but she couldn't, not yet, anyway.

He sighed.

"I understand if Maximista is ill, perhaps I should stay and take care of you, chicken soup is very good for colds, I can make you some. When the Jackal was hospitalized with that nasty infection after his appendectomy, Maximista never left his side. I wish to return the favor."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's very sweet, but whatever I have might be contagious and I'd hate for you to catch it."

'Fat chance of that happening,' she thought to herself as she watched him turn and start to walk away. 'Pregnancy's not exactly contagious, especially for guys.'

She sighed.

"Spinelli, wait."

He turned around, a hopeful smile on his face. Perhaps she'd changed her mind and wanted him to stay, after all.

"Yes, my love?"

"I'll call you later, okay?"

He nodded, trying not to let the hurt in his eyes or the fact that his heart felt like it was being smashed into a million tiny pieces show in his facial expression.

"Very well, you should get some rest; otherwise your cold might get worse."

She smiled.

"I love you."

He gave a half-hearted wave as he walked out the door.

"Yeah, same here, I'll talk to you later."

After he was gone, Maxie sat curled in a fetal position on the couch, bawling her eyes out.

"What am I gonna do?" She spoke aloud to the empty room. "If I tell him I'm pregnant, he's gonna freak, but if I don't tell him, he's gonna assume I don't want to be with him anymore, or that I'm cheating on him with Johnny and break up with me and of course, knowing my luck, Winifred will probably be waiting with open arms to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. "But," she asked, as she felt tears spill onto her cheeks, "Who's going to be there to pick up the pieces of mine?"

He'd left his hoodie draped over the arm of the couch. She reached over and picked it up. Burying her face in the fabric, she took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of his cologne that clung to it, the cologne she'd given him.

She was so lost in her misery that she jumped when the door opened and Lulu walked in, carrying take-out bags.

She smiled.

"Hey, Maxie, I brought Chinese, you hungry?"

She sniffled and shook her head.

"No."

Lulu walked into the kitchen, set the food on the counter and hurried back into the living room, sitting on the couch beside Maxie.

"What's wrong, Maxie? Why are you holding onto Spinelli's sweat shirt for dear life?"

Lulu handed Maxie a tissue.

"Here, you have mascara running down your face. What happened did you and Spinelli have a fight?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes.

"What happened?"

"I broke our date, I told him I was sick and he left. He looked so hurt, Lulu."

"Well, why did you break your date? I know how much you were looking forward to going."

She sighed.

"Lulu, can I ask you a personal question? I'm not trying to pry, but I'm in trouble and I don't know what to do."

Lulu nodded.

"Of course, what's wrong?"

"When you had the abortion, how did you deal with it?"

Lulu looked surprised.

"Oh, my gosh, Maxie, are you pregnant?

She nodded, sobbing.

"Yes."

"Does Spinelli know?"

"Of course not, I can't tell him."

"Why not, it is his baby, isn't it?"

"Of course it is, I love Spinelli with all my heart. He's my best friend, my essential person, I would never cheat on him."

"Well, then, don't you think he has the right to know he's gonna be a father? You have to tell him."

She nodded.

"I know, but he's so angry right now, I doubt he'll talk to me."

Lulu hugged her.

"He'll get over it, I know Spinelli loves you and he's gonna be absolutely thrilled when he finds out about the baby."

Maxie smiled and picked up the phone, dialing Spinelli's number.

"Here's hoping you're right."

*****

Spinelli sat on his bed, lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't believe Maxie had broken their date, especially after she'd seemed so excited about it earlier that afternoon. It just didn't make any sense to him. He sighed in resignation. Maximista's unexpected and painful rejection of him could only mean one thing, she had finally grown tired of having him around and wished to end their relationship. His eyes wandered around the room, finally landing on the teddy bear Maxie had given him while he was in the hospital. Taking it off the shelf, he hugged it to his chest for a moment before throwing it across the room. It bounced off the wall and landed in the corner. He jumped when his cell phone rang and pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the screen. It was Maxie, no doubt calling to make some excuse or beg his forgiveness or something. He flipped the phone open, roughly.

"What?" He snapped, harshly.

"Spinelli, it's Maxie, I know I hurt you when I broke our date and I'm sorry, but please give me a chance to explain."

"I thought you were sick or was that just an excuse not to have to spend the evening with me? Perhaps Johnny would be more pleasing company for you this evening."

He jumped and held the phone away from his ear as she screamed in frustration.

"Arrrrgh!"

He put the phone back to his ear.

"Thank you for making the Jackal permanently deaf in his right ear."

She sighed.

"Damian Millhouse Spinelli, this is the last time I'm gonna say this, so you'd better listen well. There is absolutely _NOTHING _going on between me and Johnny Zacharra. I love you, I will always love you, and I'm really getting tired of these jealous snits of yours. Now, I have something very important to tell you, can you meet me at Kelly's in ten minutes, please?"

He sighed.

"Very well, I'll be there."

"Thank you, I love you."

"I love you, too, Maximista, I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket, then he picked up the teddy bear and placed it back on the shelf before going downstairs.

Jason was sitting on the couch, watching TV. He looked up as Spinelli entered the room,

"Hi, Spinelli, what's up?"

"I just received a phone call from Maximista, she asked me to meet her at Kelly's in ten minutes."

"I thought you guys had a date tonight?"

"We did, but due to a misunderstanding on the Jackal's part, it was unfortunately cancelled."

Jason nodded in understanding.

"So, you guys had a fight."

Spinelli nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes and now the Jackal must go to Kelly's and meet her to try to rectify the situation for alas, he fears if he doesn't, he may lose his lady love forever and he simply will not allow that to happen."

Jason shook his head, laughing at Spinelli's overly dramatic declaration.

"So, basically, you're going to meet Maxie to apologize for being an insensitive jackass and ask her to forgive you?"

Spinelli nodded.

"In simple terms, yes."

"Good luck."

"Thank you, I fear I shall need all the luck I can get."

He left the penthouse and walked to Kelly's, stopping along the way to pick some flowers he found growing along the side of the road. He didn't know if they would help his case any, but they certainly couldn't hurt. He entered the diner and saw Maxie sitting at a table. He hurried over and sat down.

"I'm here, why did you want to see me?"

She reached across the table, took both his hands in hers, and looked into his eyes.

"Maximista, you're starting to scare me, is something wrong?"

She nodded, fighting back tears.

"Yes and when I tell you, your gonna hate me and break up with me."

He shook his head.

"I could never hate you, not ever. I know I got upset earlier, but I was just hurt because I thought Maximista didn't want to be with me anymore and the Jackal cannot imagine his life without her."

Suddenly, he remembered the flowers.

"Oh, here, these are for you."

She took them and smiled at him.

"Thank you, they're beautiful."

"You're welcome, now please tell me what has you so distraught?"

She took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm in trouble, Spinelli."

"What do you mean, what's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant with your child."

He stared at her, unable to believe his ears. She squeezed his hand, as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Please don't hate me. I'm sorry I lied to you and sent you away. But when I saw that the test was positive, I got scared and I don't know, I guess I panicked. I love you, Spinelli."

He stood up and came around the table to kneel by her side.

"I love you, too, Maxie and I promise I will never forsake you or our baby. I'll be the best father any child could hope for and the best husband you could ever want."

She looked surprised.

"Husband, you'd marry me?"

He nodded.

"Of course I would, if you'll have me. I love you and I want to do the right thing by you. I remember when I was growing up, my Granny always used to tell me "Damian, if you ever get a girl in trouble, you'd better do the right thing and marry her" and that's exactly what I intend to do."

"Oh, I see, so what you're saying is, if I weren't having a baby, you wouldn't be marrying me at all."

He shook his head.

"That's not at all what I said, please don't put words in my mouth. Anyway, if I recall correctly, you once told me you'd never get married because of what happened to your mom and Mac and also Bobbie and Tony. But I'm asking you to please reconsider and be my wife. I want us to be a family, you, me and the baby."

She shook her head, running her fingers through his hair.

"I'll marry you on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You move out of Jason's place and into mine."

He nodded.

"Alright, I'm sorry I don't have a ring, I'll get you one, I promise."

She nodded.

"Okay."

He stood up and offered her his hand.

"Would Maximista care to accompany me to Casa de Stone Cold to tell Stone Cold our news and inform him of my new living arrangements?"

She smiled.

"Of course, let's go."

They left Kelly's hand in hand and walked back to the penthouse. Jason looked up as they entered.

"Hey, guys, what's up?"

Spinelli smiled.

"We come bearing glad tidings."

Jason looked from one to the other of them and crossed his arms, smirking.

"Okay, what's going on you two? Out with it."

Maxie glanced at Spinelli, he smiled and nodded.

"Go on, tell him."

"Tell me what," Jason demanded, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. "Come on, enough with the cryptic, what is going on here?"

Maxie took a deep breath.

"Spinelli and I are gonna have a baby."

Jason's eyes widened in shock.

"Say what?"

Spinelli nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Affirmative, Stone Cold, the Jackal is going to be a father."

Jason looked at Maxie, she nodded.

"It's true."

Jason sighed and returned to the couch.

"Are you absolutely positive you're pregnant, Maxie?"

"That's what the test I took said."

Jason shook his head.

"Those tests aren't always accurate, you know. You should probably be examined by a doctor just to be absolutely positive."

She nodded.

"That's a good idea."

Spinelli sat on the couch beside Jason and looked his friend in the eye.

"There is another matter the grasshopper wishes to discuss with his master."

"What's wrong?"

"Regardless of whether or not there is to be a Jackal Jr., I have asked Maxie to marry me and she has accepted, therefore, I must inform you of my decision to leave Casa de Stone Cold and move in with her."

Jason shook his head.

"No."

Spinelli looked confused and slightly ticked off.

"Excuse me, what do you mean, no? This is my decision, not yours. If I want to move in with Maximista, that is exactly what I'll do and you can't stop me."

Jason held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Hold on, Spinelli, you didn't let me finish, hear me out okay?"

He nodded silently.

"I have a better idea."

"You do?"

"You guys can move in here."

Maxie shook her head.

"That's very kind of you, Jason, but we couldn't impose on you like that."

"You wouldn't be imposing at all, I insist."

Spinelli and Maxie exchanged a look.

"Well, it does make sense. If we lived here, you could keep working for Jason and we wouldn't have to worry about Johnny, you know you guys don't exactly get along and besides, that apartment isn't exactly big enough for five people, counting the baby and Jason has plenty of room here."

Spinelli nodded.

"That's true."

He turned to Jason, smiling.

"Alright, we'll move in here on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You let us pay rent."

"You don't have to do that, Spinelli."

He shook his head.

"No, I want to do this properly, either we pay rent or there's no deal."

Jason nodded.

"Alright, it's a deal."

They shook on it.

"Stone Cold, can we borrow your car to go pick up Maximista's things and tell the Blonde One and the Mob Prince that Maxie is moving in here instead of the other way around?"

Jason nodded and tossed him the keys.

"No problem."

Spinelli grinned.

"Stellar, this is awesome! Okay, let's go."

On the way to Maxie's apartment, they drove past a jewelry store. Spinelli pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. Maxie turned to him.

"What are we doing here?"

"I told you I'd get you an engagement ring, remember?"

She nodded.

"Yes, but I didn't think you meant today."

He shrugged.

"Why not? We're here, we may as well look."

The bell above the door jingled as they entered the store. The man behind the counter smiled at them.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you today?"

Spinelli returned his smile.

"We'd like to look at engagement rings, please."

The jeweler nodded and opened the display case. He pulled out two trays of rings and set them on the counter. They looked at them, then Maxie pointed.

"That one."

"An excellent choice."

The jeweler took the ring out of the tray and handed it to Spinelli. It was a pink heart-shaped diamond surrounded by white diamond chips on a gold band. When Spinelli saw the price tag, his eyes bugged out and his jaw practically hit the floor, but he didn't say a word. Maxie looked at him.

"Are you okay? You don't like it, do you?"

He shook his head and slipped it on her finger.

"Of course, it's beautiful. If this is the ring my Maximista wants, this is the ring she shall have." 'Even if it means I'll be in debt until I die.' He thought to himself as he paid for it and they left the store. Spinelli looked over at Maxie admiring her ring and smiled.

"I love you," he whispered, putting his hand on her stomach. "Both of you."

Maxie put her hand over his.

"We love you, too, don't we, little one?"

They pulled to a stop in front of Maxie's apartment building and went inside. They entered the apartment to find Johnny and Lulu making out on the couch. Spinelli cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem!"

They pulled apart and looked up. Lulu giggled.

"Oh hi, you guys, we didn't hear you come in."

Maxie rolled her eyes.

"Obviously."

Spinelli grinned.

"We have an announcement to make."

Johnny scowled at him.

"We already know you got her knocked up, you don't have to brag about it."

Spinelli glared at him.

"The Jackal is going to pretend he didn't hear that. We have come to tell you that we're getting married and moving in with Stone Cold, so you will have to find another roommate or live by yourselves if you so choose."

Lulu stood up and hugged them both.

"Oh my gosh, congratulations you guys, I'm so happy for you. When's the wedding?"

Maxie shrugged.

"We haven't set a date yet, but it will have to be soon, otherwise I'll be too fat to fit into the dress."

Spinelli put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"You could never be fat, childbearing is a wondrous thing and it shall only serve to make you even more beautiful than you already are, though I don't really see how that could be as it is impossible to improve upon utter perfection."

Maxie felt her face turning red and smiled at Lulu.

"Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever heard?"

Lulu nodded and turned to find Johnny sticking his finger down his throat, pretending to puke. She smacked him upside the head. He glared at her.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Quit being so damned rude!"

She turned back to Maxie and Spinelli.

"Please ignore him, he's being a total Neanderthal right now."

Spinelli smiled at her.

"No worries, Blonde One, the Mob Prince's lack of manners have no affect on us, right Maximista?"

She glared at Johnny fighting tears.

"Speak for yourself, can we please go home now, Spinelli? I'm tired."

He looked concerned.

"Are you alright?"

She shook her head.

"I don't feel very well."

"Of course, sweetheart, goodbye, Blonde One."

"Bye, Spinelli, feel better, Maxie."

"Thanks, I'll try." She leaned on Spinelli as he led her outside and helped her into the car. He glanced at her as he drove back to the penthouse.

"I'm sorry he upset you."

She shrugged.

"That was just Johnny being Johnny, I'm used to his crap and I've learned to ignore it. I wasn't lying when I said I don't feel well, I really don't."

He glanced at her in concern.

"Are you ill, is it the baby? Perhaps we should go to the hospital?"

She shook her head.

"I'll make an appointment with Dr. Lee tomorrow, I promise. I just want to go home and lie down right now."

He nodded.

"Of course, honey."

When he pulled into the parking lot in front of Jason's building, he glanced at Maxie and discovered she'd fallen asleep, so he carried her into the building and knocked on the door of the penthouse.

"Stone Cold, it's the Jackal, please open the door."

Jason opened the door and stepped back in surprise when Spinelli walked in carrying Maxie.

"Is she okay, what happened?"

Spinelli nodded.

"When we went to get her stuff, Johnny was there being a jerk, as per usual and he said something that upset her so I got her out of there as fast as possible and she fell asleep on the way home."

Jason shook his head in disgust.

"He should've known better than to pick a fight with her. That's the last thing she needs, it's not good for the baby."

Spinelli nodded and carried her up to their room. She stirred and opened her eyes as he laid her on the bed.

"Spinelli?"

"Sssh, we're home, you need to rest."

She nodded.

"Will you stay with me?"

He nodded.

"Of course."

He kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed beside her, pulling the covers over them. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as she laid her head on his chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat lull her to sleep. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before his own exhaustion overtook him and he followed her into slumber. Neither one of them knew when Jason entered the room. He approached the bed, tucking the covers in around them and turned out the light before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

******

"But I want to go with you, please?"

Spinelli shook his head.

"No, Maximista, the mission Stone Cold and I are going on is highly dangerous, I don't want you to get hurt."

She pouted.

"I've gone on stakeouts with you before and nothing happened. I can take care of myself, Spinelli."

He nodded.

"The Jackal is aware of Maximista's abilities to defend herself in highly dangerous situations. However, with your current condition, I simply don't think it's a good idea this time."

She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Oh my God, you cannot possibly be serious."

"I can assure you, I am."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, Spinelli could tell she was still angry though. He sighed.

"Honey, I don't know what's going to happen tonight, alright? If something were to happen to you or the baby, I would never forgive myself. Besides, Dr. Lee said you need to avoid stress and I fear this mission will be highly stressful. Please, don't argue with me about this, I really need to go."

She turned her back on him.

"Fine, whatever, go, I don't care."

"Can I at least have a kiss goodbye?"

"No."

He sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes, as Jason honked his horn outside.

"Fine, I'll see you later, I love you."

"Yeah, right."

He walked out, closing the door behind him and climbed into the car. Jason glanced at his young protégé out of the corner of his eye. Something seemed to be bothering him, but Jason decided he'd let Spinelli be the one to bring it up, whatever it was. He reached over and turned on the radio, tuning it to the station he knew Spinelli liked and started to sing along to 'The Wall' by Pink Floyd. Spinelli reached over and turned it off. Jason turned to him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I just don't like that song."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Why is it on your Ipod then if you hate it so much?"

Spinelli turned to look at him in surprise.

"How do you know what's on my Ipod?"

He shrugged.

"I borrowed it the other day when I went for a jog; I didn't think you'd mind."

Spinelli sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to stave off the headache he felt coming on.

"Stone Cold, in future it would be much appreciated if you didn't borrow my things without asking first. In most cultures, that's called stealing, you know."

Jason blinked, taken aback by the sharpness in the younger man's tone. It wasn't like him to be so hostile.

"I'm sorry; I really didn't think you'd mind. Next time I'll ask first, I promise."

He sighed and continued to stare out the window at the trees rushing past.

"It's not about the Ipod, I don't care that you borrowed it."

Jason reached over and put a hand on Spinelli's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Then what's really bothering you?"

"Maximista's mad at me."

"Why?"

"She wanted to come with us tonight and I told her it was too dangerous and I wasn't going to put her and the baby in jeopardy and she got mad at me."

Jason smiled.

"You were just being a good fiancé and a good father and trying to protect them, that's all. You did the right thing."

He shook his head.

"Maxie didn't see it that way."

Jason smiled.

"Maxie's pregnant, her hormones are going crazy right now, that's all. She won't stay mad at you for long, trust me."

Spinelli smiled, sheepishly.

"At least until she goes into labor, then she'll really hate me."

Jason nodded, laughing.

"Probably, just make sure there's nothing in the room that she can throw at you 'cause if she can reach it, it will be flying at your head."

Spinelli laughed and returned his smile.

"The grasshopper is grateful to his master for imparting such wisdom upon him, but I'm curious as to how you know so much about this topic. I mean no disrespect, but you weren't exactly around when the Maternal One was carrying the Innocent One, so how do you know so much about the behavior of pregnant women?"

"It's true that I wasn't around Elizabeth that much when she was pregnant with Jake, but I was around Carly when she was pregnant with both Michael and Morgan, I raised Michael for the first year of his life. Plus, Sam was pregnant with my baby at one time, too. The baby was stillborn, her name was Lila."

"I'm sorry."

Jason shrugged.

"I've dealt with it and moved on."

Spinelli looked at him in confusion.

"Pardon my ignorance, but how do you move on from the death of a child?"

"The same way you move on after anyone dies, you carry them in your heart and always remember them, but you can't stop living just because they're gone."

Spinelli nodded, thinking of Georgie.

"It is my belief that baby Lila is up there somewhere with gentle Georgie watching over us who are left behind down here."

Jason nodded but didn't say anything as they pulled into the Corinthos coffee warehouse. He cut the headlights and turned to Spinelli.

"Do you have your laptop?"

He nodded and opened it.

"Of course, don't I always?"

"I need you to find out everything you can about Ian Devlin and where he was on the night of Michael's shooting."

"Jackal P.I. is on the case."

He was busy typing, when his cell phone beeped signaling he had a new text message. He ignored it and continued typing. It beeped again insistently.

Jason gestured toward his phone.

"Aren't you gonna check that?"

"I'm busy right now, whatever it is can wait."

"Let me see the phone."

Spinelli handed it to him without a word and continued his cyber mission. Jason flipped open the phone and read the message.

HELP! He checked the number the message was sent from and glanced at Spinelli in alarm.

"Oh, shit."

He glanced up from his laptop, startled by Jason's exclamation.

"What is it, Stone Cold?"

"We need to go, now."

"Why?"

"Look at this text."

Spinelli took the phone and glanced at the message, the color slowly draining from his face.

"Oh, God," He breathed, as he felt his entire body begin to tremble. "Maximista, what if Devlin knows we're onto him and he went after her, or what if something's wrong with the baby?"

Jason shook his head as he sped toward the penthouse.

"Calm down Spinelli, that's why we're on our way home. Try to call her, okay?"

Spinelli dialed Maxie's number with trembling fingers and waited anxiously as it rang.

"C'mon, c'mon, please pick up. Damn it, voicemail."

He hung up and turned to Jason.

"I got her voicemail. Stone Cold, what if some calamity has befallen her? She begged me to let her come with us tonight and I told her no. I shall never forgive myself if she's hurt."

"Relax, Spinelli, okay, it's not gonna do anyone any good if you panic."

Jason pulled to a screeching halt in front of the penthouse and they raced inside. Spinelli raced through the door as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Maximista?"

He spotted her cell phone on the floor and bent down to pick it up. That's when he spotted her lying unconscious behind the couch.

"Maxie, baby," he turned toward the door. "STONE COLD, HELP!"

Jason raced through the door and over to where Spinelli was kneeling beside Maxie, trying desperately to revive her.

"What happened?" he asked, as he knelt beside Maxie feeling for a pulse. Spinelli shook his head.

"I'm not sure, I came in and found her like this, call an ambulance, hurry!"

Jason raced for the phone and dialed 911.

"Yes, my friend and I just came home and found his fiancée unconscious. She's two months pregnant and she has heart problems. We need an ambulance right away, thanks."

He gave the dispatcher the address and hung up, going back to Spinelli. He was cradling Maxie's head in his lap, crying hysterically, his tears falling onto her face.

"Maximista, please wake up, open your eyes, please. Come on, baby, please look at me. Maxie!"

He looked up at Jason, tears streaming down his face.

"Why won't she wake up?"

Jason shook his head.

"I don't know, Spinelli. Maxie, sweetheart, it's Jason, can you hear me?"

There was no response. Suddenly, the EMTs came through the door wheeling a stretcher.

"What happened?" They asked as they lifted Maxie onto the stretcher and hooked her up to oxygen and started an I.V. Jason shook his head.

"We're not sure; we came in and found her like this."

"Is she related to you?"

Spinelli spoke up.

"She's my fiancée."

"Is she allergic to any medications?"

"Um, not that I know of, but you should know she's pregnant and she had a heart transplant when she was six."

The paramedic nodded.

"Let's move out, you coming with us?"

Spinelli nodded.

"Of course."

Jason turned to his friend.

"I'm gonna call Mac and tell him what happened and I'll meet you at the hospital."

He nodded and followed the stretcher out. After they had Maxie loaded, he hopped into the ambulance and they shut the doors and took off, siren blaring. Spinelli sat on a stool, holding Maxie's hand.

"Maxie, listen to me, I need you to wake up, okay? Please open your eyes."

"Spinelli?" she whispered, opening her eyes, slowly.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake, how do you feel?"

"Dizzy and my head hurts, what happened?"

He shook his head.

"I'm not sure, we got your text message and came home, but when we arrived, we found you passed out and Stone Cold called 911."

She looked panicked.

"The baby…is the baby okay?"

He nodded, stroking her hair.

"Sssh, the baby's fine, but you need to stay calm, okay?"

The paramedic nodded.

"He's right, you need to stay calm, your blood pressure is elevated."

She looked at Spinelli with tears in her eyes.

"Please don't let anything happen to our baby, Spinelli, please."

He shook his head.

"I won't, I promise, I love you."

She smiled and closed her eyes.

"I love you, too."

The ambulance pulled into GH and stopped. The paramedics opened the doors and unloaded Maxie's stretcher. Spinelli hopped out and followed them through the sliding glass doors and into the hospital. Dr. Lee and Dr. Hunter met them and began examining her. Spinelli started to follow them down the hall, Dr. Hunter stopped him.

"Mr. Spinelli, you need to stay out here."

"But Maxie needs me for emotional support and comfort, I should be with her."

Dr. Hunter shook his head.

"We need to examine her and we can't do that with you getting in our way. As soon as we know what's wrong, someone will come and talk to you. In the meantime, please wait out here."

With a frustrated sigh, he sat in a chair and buried his face in his hands. He jumped in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Jason standing beside him. He stood up.

"Greetings, Stone cold, did you find the Constant Commissioner?"

He nodded and sat in a chair beside Spinelli's.

"Yeah, he's on his way, he should be here soon. How is she?"

He shook his head.

"She came to in the ambulance, but the incorrigible Dr. Doom exiled me to the waiting room; he told me I'd be in the way and that someone would come and talk to me as soon as they finished examining her."

Jason nodded.

"She'll be okay; you just have to have faith."

"Where's my daughter?"

Mac Scorpio rushed into the waiting room and over to Jason and Spinelli.

"Where's Maxie?"

Jason stood up and faced the worried man.

"The doctors are with her now. They said they'll come talk to us as soon as they know what's wrong with her. I think they mainly just want to make sure the baby's okay."

Spinelli began gesturing frantically and shaking his head behind Jason's back. Mac looked confused.

"What baby, what are you talking about?"

Jason and Mac both turned to look at Spinelli. He stopped gesturing and gave Mac a sheepish grin. Jason crossed his arms and gave Spinelli a stern look.

"You haven't told Maxie's dad yet?"

He shook his head.

"Uh, not exactly. But thanks to you, he knows now."

The police commissioner glared at the young computer hacker.

"Are you telling me that you got my daughter pregnant, young man?"

Spinelli nodded nervously.

"Yes, sir."

"Does this have anything to do with why she moved out of her apartment?"

"Yes, sir."

Mac sighed.

"So, what do you intend to do now?"

"I intend to do the right thing, sir. I've asked Maxie to marry me and she said yes. We've moved in with Jason."

Mac nodded, sighing in resignation.

"Well, I'm not going to pretend I'm happy with this unexpected turn of events because I'm not, but there's nothing anyone can do about it now. Since it seems you've taken responsibility for your actions and have decided to do the right thing by my daughter, I won't kill you."

Spinelli sighed in relief.

"Thank you, sir."

"However," Mac continued, holding up a hand to signal he wasn't done talking. "If you ever hurt her in any way, I will not hesitate to hunt you down like a dog and don't think you'll be able to hide from me because trust me there's no place on God's green earth you can run that I won't find you, got it?"

Spinelli nodded.

"Yes, sir, thank you for giving us your blessing."

"You're welcome."

They all looked up as Dr. Lee came out and approached them. Spinelli was the first to stand.

"How is Maximista, Doctor Lee?"

She smiled at him.

"She's stable now; she has eclampsia, so we want to keep her at least overnight for observation. We may let her go home tomorrow depending on how she does overnight, of course."

Mac looked concerned.

"She has what?"

"Eclampsia, it's a form of high blood pressure in pregnant women and if it goes untreated, it can be fatal. Fortunately, we caught it in plenty of time, so she should be okay. However, I want her on bed rest even after she's released."

Spinelli nodded.

"Alright, I'll see to it that she obeys doctor's orders. Can we see her now?"

The doctor nodded and led the way to Maxie's room. They entered the room and Spinelli approached the bed and sat down taking her hand in his. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Hi."

"Hey honey, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, a little tired."

Mac approached the bed, smiling.

"Hey, sweetheart."

"Hey, Daddy, how are you?"

"I'm fine, had an interesting chat with Spinelli in the waiting room. It seems I'm about to acquire both a grandchild and a son-in-law."

Maxie looked at Spinelli.

"You told him?"

Spinelli shook his head.

"Not exactly, it was actually Stone Cold who let the cat out of the bag, as it were."

Jason shrugged.

"Sorry, I had no way of knowing he didn't know."

Maxie smiled at him.

"Its okay, Jason." She glanced at Mac. "It is okay, right? You're not gonna kill Spinelli or anything, are you?"

Mac shook his head, laughing.

"Well, the thought did cross my mind, but I figured I wouldn't win any points with you if I did that, so I decided to go ahead and let him live."

Spinelli grinned.

"A fact for which the Jackal shall remain eternally grateful, I assure you."

Maxie looked at Spinelli.

"Did they say when I can go home?"

He nodded.

"They're releasing you tomorrow."

Maxie sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness, Kate is gonna kill me for missing work. I'll be lucky if she doesn't fire me."

"Maximista, I said they were releasing you tomorrow, that doesn't mean you can go back to work, at least not right away."

Maxie stared at Spinelli in confusion.

"What do you mean, Spinelli, what aren't you telling me? Is there something wrong with the baby, did something happen I don't know about? Tell me, please!" She was on the brink of hysteria, her voice becoming increasingly shrill. He hurriedly shook his head.

"No, the baby's fine, calm down. The doctor wants you on bed rest when you go home, that's why you can't go back to work right away."

"Bed rest?"

He nodded.

"How long?"

"She didn't say."

She pouted.

"Do I have to?"

"YES!" Mac, Spinelli and Jason said in unison. Maxie stuck her tongue out at them. She turned to Jason.

"I understand why these two are ganging up on me, but not you. You don't get a say in this."

"I beg to differ, yes I do."

"How do you figure?"

Jason crossed his arms and pretended to look stern, but they could all tell he was trying not to smile.

"You're living in my house, therefore, I get a say in whether or not you follow the doctor's orders, besides, I need Spinelli focused on work and he won't be if he's worrying about you constantly. So, you'd better do as the doctor says if you know what's good for you."

She sighed dramatically and flopped back against the pillows.

"Fine, I know when I'm outnumbered."

Mac stood up, looking at his watch.

"I'd better get back to the precinct. I'll see you later, okay, sweetheart?"

Maxie nodded as he kissed her on the cheek and prepared to leave.

"Okay, bye, Dad."

Jason stood up.

"I'd better go, too." He glanced at Spinelli, holding Maxie's hand. "Are you coming home tonight or staying here?"

She nodded.

"Go ahead honey; I know you have work to do."

"You sure? I can stay if you want me too."

She shook her head.

"I'm tired, I think I'm just gonna go to sleep. There's really no point in you just sitting here watching me sleep, especially when I know Jason needs your help with cyber stuff. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded and kissed her before leaving with Jason. When they arrived back at the penthouse, Spinelli fired up his laptop and continued his search for Ian Devlin. Jason sat beside him handing him an orange soda and looked over his shoulder.

"What have you found?"

He shrugged.

"Not a lot as of yet, but I'm still looking, it seems Jerry Jacks has a lot of money deposited in several offshore accounts, so its possible that Devlin may have been employed by him to put the hit on Mr. Corinthos, Sir. Unfortunately, I'm finding nothing that pinpoints his location the night of the shooting. Grrr, this is very frustrating. I'm totally off tonight for some reason."

Jason looked at his watch and stood up.

"It's 2 A.M. Why don't we call it a night, we can continue this tomorrow after we've both gotten some sleep, it's been a long and stressful day."

Spinelli nodded as he shut down his laptop.

"That sounds like a very good idea, goodnight, Stone Cold."

"Night, Spinelli."

He went upstairs to his regrettably pink room and climbed into bed, pulling Maxie's pillow against his chest and hugging it. He'd grown so accustomed to her being beside him every night that sleeping alone felt strange. As he drifted off to sleep, her pillow still held tightly against his chest, he thanked God that both his child and the woman he loved were safe, for he knew that without them, he would no longer have the strength to go on living.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey, everybody, sorry, it's taken me so long to update, but I had surgery and I've been in the hospital and then when I got home, I was without Internet for a few days, but I promise I will update faster from now on, barring any further health or Internet problems, that is. LOL. P.S. I love reviews, so please review, pretty please?

Chapter Nine

******

Spinelli was jolted awake by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He rolled over and fumbled on the nightstand for the phone. Switching on the lamp beside his bed, he blinked against the sudden glare of bright light and glanced at the clock. 4:35 A.M. Wondering who could possibly be calling at such an insane hour of morning, he flipped open the phone.

"Hello?" he mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Spinelli, it's Nadine, you need to get to the hospital right away, it's Maxie."

"What happened?" he asked, sitting bolt upright in bed, suddenly wide awake.

"It's too complicated to explain over the phone but there have been some complications. You need to get here ASAP."

"I'm on my way."

He hung up and threw on the first thing he found in the closet. He went downstairs and quickly left a note explaining what had happened and telling Jason he'd call with news as soon as there was any. Then he grabbed the keys and headed to the hospital as fast as he could. As soon as he got there, he parked the car and raced inside.

"Where's Maximista?" He demanded, as he leaned over with his hands on his knees, struggling to catch his breath.

"Spinelli…"

He straightened up and looked over to see Nadine approaching him. As soon as he saw the look on her face, he knew something terrible had happened.

"Let's go sit down."

He followed her to a chair and sat down.

"Nurse Crowell, what happened, please tell me?"

"Spinelli, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Maxie went into cardiac arrest earlier."

Spinelli felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him and was thankful to be sitting down, for he didn't think his legs would have been able to support his weight at that moment. He stared at Nadine in shock, shaking his head in disbelief.

"But…but how is that possible? When we left her she was fine, what happened? I don't understand this at all, it makes no sense to me."

She shook her head.

"We're not sure, when Elizabeth went in to check on her somewhere around midnight, she was unresponsive. Dr. Hunter brought in a crash cart and managed to get her heart started again."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God, is she alright?"

Nadine nodded.

"Yes, but…"

"What?" he demanded, when she stopped speaking. "There's something you're not telling me here. Please, whatever it is, I can handle it, just please tell me."

She sighed.

"It's about the baby."

He looked confused.

"The baby, what…what about the baby? Everything's okay, isn't it?"

She shook her head, sadly.

"I'm afraid not. Dr. Lee examined her and she thinks it would be too dangerous for Maxie to continue with the pregnancy. She thinks it would put too much strain on her heart to carry the baby to term and deliver it."

Spinelli couldn't believe what she was telling him. He shook his head in denial at her words.

"No, I don't believe you, I want to talk to Dr. Lee myself, there has to be something else we can do and if she says no, I'll get a second opinion."

Nadine sighed.

"Very well, I'll find Dr. Lee and you can speak to her yourself, but she's going to tell you the exact same thing I just did."

He shook his head, his jaw set in determination.

"I don't care; I want to talk to her…NOW!"

Nadine looked shocked by Spinelli's outburst; she'd never heard the normally cheerful young man raise his voice before. She nodded silently and hurried off in search of Dr. Lee.

"Spinelli."

He looked up to see Jason walking toward him and stood up as his mentor approached.

"Stone Cold, I didn't expect you to be here until later. Did you find my note?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, Liz called and told me what happened and when I got downstairs, I found your note. How's Maxie?"

He sighed and Jason saw sadness in his eyes.

"I'm afraid the situation is most dire. Maxie's fine, but Dr. Lee says she can't carry the baby to term because it would put too much strain on her heart to continue with the pregnancy."

Jason hugged him.

"Spin, I'm so sorry, I know how much you and Maxie were looking forward to having this baby."

He shrugged.

"Perhaps it just wasn't in the cards at this time; I'm not willing to risk Maximista's life over this. We can have another baby later or if not, we can adopt but if anything were to happen to Maxie, I wouldn't know what to do, I'm lost without her."

Jason nodded.

"I know."

"Mr. Spinelli."

They looked up as Dr. Lee approached, Spinelli stood up.

"Dr. Lee, please tell me what's going on with Maxie, nurse Crowell gave me some most distressing news, surely there's something you can do to save the baby."

She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm afraid not, I wish I had better news for you."

He looked at the floor, so they wouldn't see the tears that had suddenly welled up in his eyes.

"Yeah, me too." he mumbled to his shoes.

Jason reached over and patted him on the back as he looked up, wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and feeling like a wimp and a coward for showing such weakness in front of the doctor and Stone Cold.

"So, what's going to happen now?" he asked, trying to control the quiver in his voice.

"We have to perform an abortion, but we need your consent, you'll have to sign some papers first."

He nodded.

"Alright, does Maxie know yet?"

Dr. Lee shook her head.

"No, we're keeping her sedated so she won't know anything has happened until it's over."

He nodded, rubbing a hand wearily over his eyes.

"Fine, bring me the paperwork."

Dr. Lee nodded and walked to the nurse's station and returned with a clipboard which she handed to him. He scanned the papers and then signed them and handed the clipboard back to the doctor. She smiled, sympathetically.

"Thank you; I know how hard this has to be for you, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you."

She walked down the hall to Maxie's room to prep her for the procedure. Jason watched him pace across the room, his head going back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match. He jumped in surprise when Spinelli kicked the trashcan, sending it skidding across the room. Jason stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders, halting his frenzied movement. Spinelli looked at him and he could see the anguish shining in his eyes.

"Spinelli, stop," he demanded, tightening his grip on the younger man's shoulders. "You're driving me crazy pacing back and forth like that."

Spinelli glared at him.

"Well, excuse me, but in case you haven't noticed, I just gave the doctors permission to kill our baby after I gave Maxie my word that I wouldn't let anyone hurt that child. She's gonna hate me for this. She's gonna feel like I betrayed her. God, this freaking SUCKS!"

"Hey, look at me, alright? I know how bad this sucks, okay? I understand, believe it or not. You didn't have a choice in the matter. You did the best thing you could, the _only_ thing you could. So, do me a favor and quit beating yourself up over this, okay, please?"

Spinelli sighed loudly, raking his fingers through his hair roughly. Suddenly, he broke down in tears, his shoulders shaking with his sobs. Jason grabbed him in a desperate hug, trying to calm him down.

"Sssh, it's okay, everything's gonna work out, you'll see."

Spinelli sat down with a weary sigh, burying his face in his hands.

"I am so tired right now."

Jason pointed to a sofa across the room.

"Why don't you go stretch out on the couch and try to get some rest? I'll wake you when the doctor comes out okay?"

Spinelli nodded and stretched out on the sofa. Jason went to the nurse's station and after speaking with Elizabeth for a moment, returned carrying a pillow and blanket. Spinelli was already asleep and he never stirred as Jason put the pillow under his head and covered him with the blanket. Glancing at his watch, he walked down the hall to the vending machine. After deciding what he wanted, he walked back to the waiting room and resumed his silent vigil, glancing at his friend who was still sound asleep. He opened his bag of Fritos and his bottle of Snapple and settled in to wait for news on Maxie. He looked up in surprise when Robin sat down beside him.

"Hey, Robin, how are you?"

She shrugged.

"I'm okay considering what's happening with Maxie right now. How's he doing?" she asked, nodding toward Spinelli curled in a fetal position on the couch sound asleep. Jason shrugged.

"He's exhausted; this is tearing him up inside, Robin. He keeps questioning whether or not he did the right thing by signing that consent form. I tried to convince him that he had no other choice; Dr. Lee said that if Maxie tried to carry the baby to term, it could kill her. But Spinelli is afraid that once Maxie wakes up and realizes what happened and what Spinelli authorized the doctors to do, she'll hate him."

Robin nodded sadly.

"She won't take it very well, I guarantee that, but to be fair, he didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter. They can have another baby, but Maxie can't be replaced."

Jason nodded.

"That's exactly what I told him, but he's still upset and scared."

She nodded.

"That's completely understandable; anyone would feel that way in Spinelli's situation. God, Jason this isn't fair, Maxie has endured more in her short life than most people could ever dream of, BJ's death, her heart transplant, Aunt Felicia abandoning her and Georgie, Georgie's death, that's more than one person should ever have to deal with and now losing her baby, too. Why does life have to be so cruel?"

Jason shook his head.

"That's a question I asked myself I don't know how many times after Emily was killed, then Jake was kidnapped and Michael was shot, I still don't have any answers."

They looked up as Dr. Lee walked down the hall wheeling Maxie's stretcher. Jason stood up and ran to catch up with her.

"Dr. Lee, wait."

She turned at the sound of his voice.

"Yes, Mr. Morgan, how may I help you?"

"Which room are you taking her to so I can let Spinelli know?"

"Well, she'll be in recovery for several hours yet, but she'll be in room 620."

He nodded.

"Thank you, is anyone allowed to see her in the recovery room?"

Dr. Lee nodded.

"He can see her for a few minutes, however, when she wakes up; she'll be groggy and probably won't be able to talk much."

Jason nodded.

"I see. I'll let Spinelli know, thanks, Dr. Lee."

"You're welcome."

He walked back to the waiting room and shook his friend's shoulder.

"Spinelli, wake up."

"Hmmm," He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looked at Jason questioningly.

"What's going on?"

"They just brought Maxie out, she's in recovery, they said she'll be there for awhile and then they'll move her to room 620."

"Can I see her?"

"Yeah, for a little while. Dr. Lee said she'll be pretty out of it from the anesthesia though, so don't expect too much in the way of conversation from her, okay?"

He nodded.

"Okay, thanks Stone Cold."

He nodded.

"No problem, give Maxie my best."

"I will."

Spinelli walked down the hall until he came to a door marked 'Recovery'; he entered the room and looked around until he found Maxie's bed. He pulled a chair up beside the bed and sat down, taking her hand in his. Looking down at her still form lying on the bed, he felt a lump swell in his throat and blinked hard against the tears that rose unbidden to his eyes. He hated the unmanly quiver that had crept into his voice when next he spoke.

"My darling Maximista, I cannot find enough words to describe how much I love you, not even if I used up a whole dictionary. However, it is my fear that when you wake up and discover what has happened, what I allowed the doctors to do, you'll hate me. However, you must understand that I had no choice in the matter; I simply could not allow this pregnancy to continue knowing it could cost you your life. We can always have another baby later or else we can adopt, but I simply could not lose you, Maxie. I only hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I'm so sorry, my love."

He bowed his head and wept silently, his tears falling onto her hand which was clasped between both of his.

"Spinelli…where are you? I want Spinelli."

He looked up at the sound of her weak whisper and smiled.

"I'm right here, Angel."

She turned her head toward him, struggling to focus on his face.

"I don't feel good, what happened?"

He smoothed the hair off her forehead.

"Sssh, just rest, okay? We'll talk later, I promise. By the way, Stone Cold sends his best wishes for Maximista's speedy recovery. "

She nodded and drifted back to sleep as Spinelli stood up and prepared to return to the waiting room.

"I love you," he whispered as he kissed her forehead, "get some rest, dear one, I'll see you tomorrow."

He looked back over his shoulder at his fiancée's sleeping form and sighed. Jason stood up as Spinelli entered the waiting room.

"How is she?"

He sighed.

"She's sleeping right now, I told her everything but she was still unconscious at the time, so I don't think she actually heard any of it, which means the Jackal is burdened with the unfortunate task of repeating the sad news when she is conscious and fully able to grasp the implications of this tragedy. Thus, though it pains him greatly, the Jackal must break his love's already fragile heart yet again."

Jason patted him on the shoulder as they walked to the parking lot and got into the car.

"I know how hard this is, man, I understand, believe me, but I promise you, everything will work out for the best, you'll see."

Spinelli leaned his head against the window, letting the cool glass soothe his flushed face and closed his eyes, giving in to the fatigue he felt spreading throughout his body. After tonight, the only thing he wanted to do was go home, collapse into bed and sleep for about a million years. The next thing he knew, Jason was shaking his shoulder.

"Hey, wake up, we're home."

Spinelli felt like a zombie as he stumbled into the penthouse and up the stairs to his room. He was too exhausted to get undressed and under the covers, so Jason pulled his shoes off and tucked the covers around him securely.

"'Night, buddy." he whispered, as he tiptoed out of the room and down the hall to his own room.

*****

The smells of coffee and bacon woke Spinelli the next morning. Groaning, he wiped the sleep from his eyes and went into the bathroom to take a shower. He stepped in and adjusted the spray, letting the warm water soothe his sore muscles and chase the cobwebs from his brain. After washing his hair and rinsing off, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked into his room to get dressed.

"Aaaah!" he screamed and jumped in surprise when he entered his room and found Winifred sitting in his desk chair. He glared at her, reflexively clutching the towel around his waist.

"What are you doing in my room?" he demanded, as he walked to the bed and sat down, being careful not to lose his towel in the process. "How did you get in here?"

She squeaked in embarrassment and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry; I didn't realize you were naked."

"Yes, well naked is generally how one takes a shower. Turn around please, I'd like to get dressed if you don't mind, this isn't a peep show."

She turned her chair so that her back was facing him. He dressed quickly and sat on the bed.

"You can turn around now, I'm decent."

She turned to face him, nervously twirling the end of one pigtail around her finger, trying to avoid his angry gaze.

"Well," Spinelli demanded, unable to keep the anger out of his voice, "I'm waiting, what are you doing here? You're no longer welcome, Vile Betrayer."

Winifred looked as if he'd slapped her as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Fine," she said, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice as she stood up and put on her jacket. "I can take a hint, I came here to apologize for threatening to turn you over to Agent Raynor, but on second thought, I'm not sorry at all. You know, I thought maybe you'd be a little nicer to me considering I'm the one who helped Maxie clear your name, but apparently gratitude is asking too much from you, good day, Mr. Jackal."

She had her hand on the doorknob and was just about to leave when he called her back.

"Priestess, wait."

She turned around crossing her arms over her chest.

"What?" she asked in an icy tone.

He sighed.

"The Jackal is most appreciative of the Priestess' help in clearing his name; I would no doubt be sitting in prison right now if it weren't for you, a fact which shall haunt me for the rest of my days. However, I feel it best if we terminate our association with each other immediately. The Jackal is still very angry with the Priestess for betraying him and I think it best if we have no further contact with each other effective immediately. Now, if you'll be so kind as to depart, I have a very busy day ahead of me and I don't have time to carry on pointless conversations with backstabbers."

With a strangled cry, Winifred ran from the room. Spinelli could hear her footsteps pounding down the stairs and the front door slammed. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he went downstairs and walked into the kitchen, where Jason was standing at the stove, frying something in a pan. He turned when Spinelli entered and smiled.

"Good morning, are you hungry? I can make you some eggs if you want."

He shook his head.

"I'm not really hungry right now, but thanks for the offer."

"No problem."

Jason carried his plate to the table and sat down beside Spinelli who sat staring into the cream-colored depths of his coffee cup as if it were the most fascinating sight in the world. Jason waved his hand in front of the young man's face.

"Hellooo, earth to Spinelli, come in, please."

He looked up in surprise, startled out of his reverie.

"Huh?"

Jason shook his head.

"Wow, you were a million miles away, what's wrong, worried about Maxie?"

Spinelli nodded.

"Yes, among other things, when I got out of the shower, I found Winifred Leeds in my bedroom. We had a most distressing conversation and she left rather quickly."

Jason looked surprised as he took a sip of his coffee.

"That was my fault; I was the one who let her in. She said she had something to discuss with you and I didn't think anything of it. I should've known better, I'm sorry, I should've minded my own business."

Spinelli shook his head.

"It's not your fault, Stone Cold; you had no way of knowing of her betrayal."

Jason looked confused.

"Betrayal? I don't get it; I thought she was the one who helped Maxie destroy the evidence the FBI had against you."

He nodded, as he spread butter and jelly on his bagel and took a bite.

"She did and I'm grateful to her for that, but it still doesn't change the fact that she was the one who sic them on me in the first place. She was the reason I had to go to L.A. I'm afraid one good deed isn't enough to make up for all the pain she's caused. She came here to apologize and I told her that though I appreciated her help in the case of the missing evidence against me, I no longer wished to associate with her."

"Is that why she ran out of here looking like she was being chased by a pack of wild dogs?" Jason asked as he stood up and walked across the room to put his dishes in the sink.

Spinelli nodded, just as the phone rang. He got up from the table and walked into the living room to answer it.

"Hello, Casa de Stone Cold, the Jackal speaking. Yes, Dr. Scorpio, hi. What do you mean she knows, who told her? I wanted her to hear the news from me, not him. Damn it, I could kill him for this! How did she take it?" He sighed. "Yes, I'll be right there, Bye."

He hung up the phone and began pacing the room, angrily.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered angrily, storming back into the kitchen and sitting down. He slammed his fist down on the table so hard; it sent his now cold coffee sloshing over the edge of the cup. With a furious cry, he picked up the cup and hurled it full-force at the wall, where it shattered, spraying the wall with coffee. Jason jumped.

"What happened, Spinelli, what did Robin say that has you so pissed off? I don't think I've seen you this upset before. Talk to me, what's going on?"

Spinelli clutched his head with both hands, grabbing fistfuls of hair and making as if to yank it out by the roots.

"AAAAAGGGHH!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, releasing all of his pent up anger and frustration in that single scream. Jason looked at him.

"Feel better now?" he asked, as he waited for Spinelli to catch his breath. He nodded.

"Actually, yes."

"Good, are you gonna tell me what happened now?"

"Dr. Scorpio told me that the villainous Matt Hunter aka Dr. Doom came into Maximista's room this morning and told her about the miscarriage in a most callous and uncaring fashion and she completely flipped out and started screaming that it wasn't true and they were all liars, I need to get to the hospital immediately. Can you drive, I don't trust myself behind the wheel at this moment, I'm shaking too much, my nerves are shot."

Jason nodded, grabbing his keys and putting his leather jacket on.

"Of course, just calm down, okay? Take some deep breaths, the last thing we need is for you to have a stroke or something. Okay, good." he nodded as Spinelli took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Let's go."

They drove to the hospital quickly and parked. As they entered the building, they heard screaming coming from down the hall, Spinelli bolted in the direction of the sound, he'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"MAXIMISTA!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

A/N: This chapter is a little bit darker than any of my previous chapters have been as it deals with Maxie's feelings after her abortion/miscarriage. Even though it was technically an abortion due to medical necessity, I refer to it as a miscarriage because that's what Maxie believes happened because that's what the doctors told her. I can't say anything else because I don't wanna give anything away, so read and enjoy and as always, please review. Also, if I got the Latin translation wrong, I apologize, but I'm just going by what the website I looked it up on said.

*****

"MAXIMISTA!"

When Spinelli and Jason walked into the lobby of General Hospital, their ears were assaulted by the most God-awful screams they'd ever heard. It sounded like a banshee or an animal caught in a trap, trying desperately to free itself from the pain it found itself in. Spinelli ran down the hall at breakneck speed, toward the sound, Jason right on his heels. He'd know that voice anywhere, it was Maxie and she sounded as if she were being tortured. Good Lord, what could they possibly be doing to her to elicit such a reaction as this? He ran around the corner to her room and skidded to a halt in the doorway, his mouth hanging open in shock at the sight being played out before his very astonished eyes. She was thrashing around wildly on the bed, her hair tangled and her eyes wild with grief and pain as Dr. Hunter and Dr. Drake attached restraints to the bed and started to strap her in.

Seeing her like this reminded him of the movie 'The Exorcist'. When he'd been about ten years old, he'd pretended to go to sleep and then had snuck downstairs and watched it as soon as he was certain his Granny was asleep, even though she had strictly forbade it, he did it anyway. The movie had scared the crap out of him and given him nightmares for weeks as well as a visit from his Grandpa's belt when his Granny found out which had made sitting rather uncomfortable for about a week after. Shaking off the memory, he rushed forward and grabbed Dr. Hunter's wrist in a vice-like grip, forcing him to drop the strap he was using to try to tie down his beloved Maximista.

"Unhand her at once, Dr. Doom or face the consequences."

Matt jerked free from Spinelli's grasp and glared at him, rubbing his now very sore wrist.

"Mr. Spinelli, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Spinelli glared at the other man, wishing more than anything he had the power to annihilate him on the spot.

"That's an excellent question; one I'd like an answer to, as a matter of fact. Just what the hell do you think **YOU **are doing, tying Maxie to her bed like that?"

Matt looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Are you blind, man? Can you not see what's going on with her right now? We're doing this for her protection, as well as ours."

Spinelli looked at Patrick; he nodded, confirming his brother's words.

"He's right, Spinelli, Maxie is extremely agitated right now and I know this looks like cruel and unusual punishment, but I give you my word, we won't hurt her, we're just trying to keep her from hurting herself, okay?"

He nodded, trying to swallow the boulder-size lump that had lodged itself in his throat the minute he'd seen her acting so wild. Patrick looked at him.

"Talk to her, Spinelli."

"I-I don't know what to say."

Patrick shook his head.

"The words themselves don't matter, just let her hear the sound of your voice, it might help calm her down, it's worth a shot, isn't it?"

He nodded and sat beside Maxie's bed, taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together.

"Maximista, can you hear me? It's Spinelli, Ssh; calm down, sweetheart, okay? Everything's gonna be okay, baby, I promise."

She continued screaming as if he wasn't there. Sending up a desperate plea to God, Spinelli did the only thing he knew to do, he started to sing.

"The way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea, the memory of all that, no, no, they can't take that away from me. The way your smile just beams, the way you sing off-key, the way you haunt my dreams, no, no, they can't take that away from me. We may never, ever meet again on that bumpy road to love, but I'll always, always keep the memory of the way you hold your knife, the way we dance til three, the way you changed my life, no, no, they can't take that away from me. No, you can't take that away from me."

As he sang, Maxie's screams turned to whimpers and then ceased altogether. By the time the song ended, she was still, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes as Robin injected a sedative into her I.V.

"Spinelli," Maxie pleaded, in the manner of a very small child. "Please don't let them hurt me, anymore. I'll be good, I promise, just please make the pain stop. I want it to stop, please make it stop."

Spinelli felt as if a knife were being twisted in his heart as he listened to the love of his life plead with him to save her. He glanced at the doctors in confusion.

"What is she talking about; I thought you said this wouldn't hurt her?"

Robin shook her head.

"She's not in any pain, at least, not physically. She's just scared and confused right now, that's all. We've ordered her placed under twenty-four hour observation in the psych ward."

Spinelli shook his head, adamantly.

"No, you can't do that, I forbid it."

She placed her hand on his arm, gently.

"Spinelli, I know how much you love Maxie. So do I, she's my cousin and I would give absolutely anything if this wasn't happening to her, but it is and we have to do what's best for Maxie now, you do want that, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Of course, I do, but I don't understand what caused her to act so violently. I've never seen anyone act that way before. I mean, it was like she was possessed or something."

Robin glanced at Maxie, who had her eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping, then took his arm and led him out into the hall.

"Spinelli, when Matt came in this morning and told Maxie about the baby, it was like something inside her broke, she completely snapped and went off the deep end. It's like she's gone off somewhere else where the pain from this can't hurt her. In her mind, she's safe and the baby's still alive."

"So, basically, you're telling me she's in denial." He stated, trying desperately to get the image of Maxie going crazy out of his head. It was a futile attempt; however, for no matter how hard he tried to dislodge it, it stayed put. He sighed, looking at Robin in despair.

"What's going to happen to my Maximista?" He asked, as the tears in his eyes spilled over. Robin hugged him.

"Spinelli, it's okay, Maxie's going to be fine, I promise you. We'll move her upstairs in a little while and they'll run some tests to determine just how sick she is and decide on a course of treatment for her. In the meantime, why don't you go home and try to get some rest? You look like you're about to collapse from exhaustion."

He nodded.

"It's true, the Jackal hasn't slept much the last couple of days, but I want to wait here with Maxie until she's transferred upstairs, I want to make sure she's safe before I go and that no one is going to hurt her or be mean to her in any way. I don't want her to be scared."

Robin nodded and smiled at him.

"I understand. You really love her a lot, don't you?"

"I do, with everything in me; my life would be empty without her. She's my heart and soul and someday soon, she'll be my wife, at least if I have anything to say about it."

She giggled.

"Would that make her the Jackalette, or Mrs. Grasshopper?"

He laughed.

"Both, I guess."

"Spinelli," they looked up as Patrick walked into the hall and gestured for him to come back into the room.

"Yes, what is it, Dr. Drake?"

"Maxie's awake, she's asking for you."

He nodded.

"Alright, I'll be right there," He turned back to Robin and hugged her. "Thank you, Dr. Scorpio."

She returned his hug.

"You're welcome, but please, call me Robin; after all, we're gonna be family soon and besides, Dr. Scorpio sounds too formal."

He smiled.

"Alright, Robin." He turned and went into the room, resuming his vigil beside Maxie's bed and taking her hand.

"Greetings, Lovely One, how do you feel?"

She groaned.

"I don't feel very lovely right now."

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"You'll always be lovely to me, my little fashionista."

She looked at him, a mixture of fear and confusion in her eyes.

"Spinelli?"

"Yes, Mi Amour?"

"What's going to happen to me?"

"You're going to stay here until you're well and then I'm gonna take you home with me."

She looked confused.

"Am I sick?"

He nodded.

"For now, but you won't be for long and then you can come home and we can get married, just like we planned, okay?"

She nodded.

"I'm scared," she whispered, clutching his hand, her eyes filling with tears.

He leaned down and kissed her.

"I know you are, but I promise you everything's gonna be just fine. I would never allow anyone to hurt you; I'd kill them with my bare hands if they harmed so much as one hair on your head."

"That goes for me, too." Jason stated, stepping up beside Maxie's bed and smiling down at her. She looked surprised.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Absolutely, I wouldn't give it so much as a second thought; you're under my protection, Maxie."

"Thank you, Jason."

He nodded.

"Don't mention it."

They looked up as a woman entered the room, pushing a wheelchair.

"Hello, my name is Sarah and I'm here to take you upstairs, Dr. Johnson is waiting for you, you ready to go?"

Maxie shook her head.

"Not really, but it doesn't look like I have much choice."

Sarah shook her head.

"Afraid not."

She sighed and sat in the chair.

"Fine, let's get this over with. All this stress can't possibly be good for me, I am pregnant, you know."

Spinelli glanced at Robin in alarm. She gave him a look as if to say, 'See what I mean?'

Spinelli stepped forward and looked at Sarah.

"Can I come with her; I'd like to speak with the doctor if that's okay."

She nodded.

"Certainly, you're more than welcome to come along."

Jason tapped him on the shoulder, he turned to face him.

"Yes, Stone Cold?"

"I'll be downstairs in the lobby when you're ready to go, okay?"

He nodded.

"Alright, I'll meet you just as soon as she's settled."

"Okay, bye, Maxie, feel better, okay?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Jason, see you later."

"Bye."

He left and Spinelli walked beside Maxie, holding her hand as Sarah wheeled her into the elevator and pushed the button to take them to the sixth floor. The elevator doors opened onto a maze of hallways with doors on both sides. Some open, some closed, all equally formidable in appearance. He looked on in awe as a nurse walked by, pushing a little boy in a wheelchair. The child looked to be about young Michael's age and as they walked past, Spinelli couldn't help but notice the child rocking back and forth, hugging himself and staring blankly into space. He began to have second thoughts about leaving his beloved here even overnight. He felt as one who has just entered a zune maze must feel, a maze in which the only way out is death.

"Omnum dimittite spem, o vos intrantus" he muttered under his breath as he quickly crossed himself. It meant "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" in Latin. They entered a room to find a woman waiting for them. She had short black hair and glasses and wore a red dress and a white lab coat. She smiled and extended her hand as they entered.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Johnson, you must be Maxie."

She nodded wordlessly and glanced at Spinelli.

"Can we please go home now? I don't wanna do this, please don't make me."

"Ssssh, hush now, its okay, no one's gonna hurt you."

He looked at the doctor, apologetically.

"I'm sorry, she's a little frightened."

Dr. Johnson smiled.

"It's perfectly understandable, this is a scary situation. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name though, I'm sorry."

"Damian Spinelli," he replied as he shook the doctor's hand. "I'm Maxie's fiancé."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Spinelli."

He nodded.

"Likewise."

The doctor sat in a chair facing them and consulted her clipboard.

"Alright, Dr. Scorpio tells me you've suffered a lot of loss in your life, is that right?"

Maxie shook her head.

"I don't wanna talk about that."

Dr. Johnson nodded.

"Okay, we can come back to that, what about your childhood, what was that like?"

Maxie laughed bitterly.

"It sucked anything else you wanna know?"

"Why do you say it sucked?"

She shrugged.

"Because it did."

"Why, what happened to you that was so horrible?"

Maxie stood up and headed for the door.

"I'm not doing this, I'm leaving and don't anybody try to stop me."

She walked out; Spinelli quickly jumped up and followed her, apologizing over his shoulder to the doctor.

"I'm so sorry, I'll be right back."

He ran after Maxie, standing in front of her and blocking her path.

"Maximista, wait."

"Move out of the way, Spinelli," she ordered, trying in vain to step around him. "I'm not playing with you, you'd better move."

He shook his head emphatically and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Ow, you're hurting me, let go!"

"Not until you listen to me."

"What?" She demanded, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Spinelli closed his eyes, took a deep breath and beseeched any entity who would listen to help him deal with this situation in a calm and rational manner. He opened his eyes and looked at her seriously.

"Maxie, I need you to go back in there and let Dr. Johnson help you. Just talk to her, okay? That's all I'm asking, just talk. Do it for me, please?"

He gave her a pleading look.

She sighed.

"Damian Spinelli, you are a master when it comes to guilt trips, has anyone ever told you that?"

He grinned.

"Does this mean you'll go back?"

She nodded.

"Yes, as much as I don't want to, I will, but only because you seem to want me to so badly and I can never tell you no. I do have one question, though."

"What's that, dear heart?"

"Why does everyone keep telling me the baby's dead? The baby's not dead, it's fine. They're the crazy ones, they need to be here not me, I'm not crazy, they are. All of them, but especially Matt Hunter, he's more loco than anybody."

Spinelli laughed, shaking his head in amusement. He was inclined to agree with her in that respect; he couldn't stand Matt Hunter and thought he was a pompous jerk.

He leaned forward and kissed her in an attempt to avoid answering her question about the baby. Maxie wrapped her arms around his neck as he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, seeking entrance. She moaned into his mouth and threaded her fingers through his hair as their tongues battled for dominance. Glancing over his shoulder, Maxie spotted an empty office and guided them toward it. Spinelli broke their kiss as Maxie shut the door behind them.

"Maximista, perhaps this isn't the best idea…" He started, but his voice trailed off as she backed him into the desk and proceeded to unbutton his shorts. He hopped up on the desk when he felt it pressing painfully into his back.

"Oh, God," He groaned, as he felt her slip her hand inside and start to caress him.

"Mm-Maxista…," He stammered, trying desperately to keep his wits about him. "perhaps now isn't the best time to be doing this."

"Why not?" She whispered as she kissed his neck.

"W-we could get caught, Wh-what if someone walks in?"

"No one's gonna walk in on us, but even if they do, so what?"

Spinelli looked incredulous.

"That would be rather embarrassing, don't you think?"

She shrugged.

"It wouldn't be the first time, remember Jason's couch? He walked in on us then. Besides, if people don't wanna get an eyeful, they should learn to knock, instead of just barging in. Now, shut up and kiss me, you're ruining the mood."

He nodded and did exactly that, as Maxie began unbuttoning her shirt. Just as she pulled Spinelli's shirt over his head, they heard the door open behind them.

"What the hell?" Jason exclaimed in shock. "Not again, jeez, don't you two have any self-control? I mean, it was bad enough walking in and finding the two of you on my couch, but on top of a desk in an empty office? My God, man, what were you thinking?"

Upon hearing Jason's voice, Spinelli jumped in surprise and fell off the desk landing in a rather undignified heap on the floor.

"Ow!"

He jumped to his feet and buttoned his pants quickly as Maxie fixed her shirt.

"Stone Cold, this isn't what it looks like, I swear."

Jason crossed his arms and smirked, raising his eyebrows skeptically.

"So, let me get this straight then, you guys _weren't_ just about to have sex on top of that desk, right?"

"Ummm," Spinelli began, feeling his face turning red. "the Jackal would like to plead the fifth on that one on the grounds that anything he says at this moment could cause untold amounts of damage to his pride, not to mention massive embarrassment."

Jason looked unconvinced.

"Uh-huh," It was taking every bit of self-control he could muster to keep from busting out laughing as he faced his red-faced friend. "Spinelli, I have two words for you, cold shower."

"What?" he asked in confusion, then his eyes got huge as it dawned on him what had happened.

"Oh dear, please excuse me, I have to go…take care of something, I'll be right back."

He ran down the hall to the men's room, holding his jacket in front of him to hide the evidence of his little problem. As soon as he was gone, Maxie spoke up.

"Uh, Jason, it's called knocking, you should really try it sometime."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," He stated, dryly. "and you two should learn to keep your hands to yourselves in public. What if it hadn't been me who walked in, what if it had been your doctor? How would you have explained that?"

She shrugged.

"I would've told her to mind her own business. What Spinelli and I do is no one's business, it's between him and me. Anyway, I don't like that doctor, the only reason I agreed to this in the first place is 'cause Spinelli begged me to and I can never resist his sad puppy eyes. All that woman wants to do is get me to spill my guts about my childhood and my family, which I don't want to do and try to convince me my baby's dead, which is a lie. Why should I listen to her or believe anything she says?"

Jason sighed.

"She's only trying to help you, Maxie."

"Well, maybe I don't want her help."

"But you promised Spinelli."

She sighed and lowered her head in resignation.

"I know" she whispered in defeat. "It's just…" her voice trailed off as her eyes filled with tears again for what felt like the millionth time that day. "It's just that if I go in there and talk to the doctor, it means…it means my baby's really gone and I don't know if I can handle that, especially not alone."

Spinelli entered the room just in time to hear this last statement. He walked over and took her in his arms, gently rocking back and forth and stroking her hair.

"Sssh, Maxie, you're not alone, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I love you so much, Maximista, with all my heart and soul."

"How can you possibly love me when I killed our baby?"

His eyes widened in shock and he shook his head in denial at her words.

"No, no, no, you didn't kill our baby, why would you say that? This is not your fault, alright? It was just a horrible accident, that's all. You mustn't blame yourself, sweetheart."

She pulled back to look at him, wiping the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"I love you, Spinelli."

"I love you too. Now, let's go back to Dr. Johnson's office, okay? You've been gone for awhile, she probably thinks you left."

She nodded and taking his hand in hers, walked across the hall and into the office. Dr. Johnson looked up and smiled as they entered.

"Welcome back, you ready to give this another shot?"

Maxie nodded and returned the smile.

"Yeah, I am, I'm sorry I freaked and ran out like that."

"Don't give it another thought, okay? This is a very stressful and trying time for you, it's perfectly understandable that you reacted the way you did, it's alright. I promise I won't hold it against you."

Maxie laughed and Spinelli thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Thank you." She said, as she resumed her place in the chair. Spinelli glanced at his watch and kissed the top of Maxie's head.

"Maximista, I'm gonna go, Stone Cold is waiting for me, he probably has some cyber mission waiting for me at home, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay, I love you, see you later, babe."

"I love you too, call me if you need anything or even if you just wanna talk."

"I will."

Spinelli left and went downstairs where he found Jason sitting on a couch in the lobby. He stood up as Spinelli approached.

"You ready to go?"

He nodded wordlessly and took off in the direction of the car so fast, Jason had to jog in order to keep up with him.

"Whoa Spinelli, hold up, where's the fire?"

He blushed as they got in the car and started in the direction of the penthouse.

"I'm sorry, Stone Cold, I'm just rather embarrassed at the moment, that's all."

"Why?"

Spinelli looked at him in surprise.

"You're kidding, right?"

Jason laughed.

"You're not embarrassed because I walked in on you and Maxie, are you?"

"Duh." He muttered, staring out the window.

"Don't be embarrassed, I should've knocked before I just barged in like that, I'm sorry."

He shook his head.

"No apology is necessary; I wasn't expecting Maximista to be so amorous with me."

"What?"

"I didn't think she was gonna try to jump my bones." He clarified, forgetting his "Jackal-speak" for the moment and opting for regular English.

"Does she know the truth yet?" Jason asked, as he pulled into his driveway and cut the engine.

Spinelli shook his head as they entered the penthouse.

"No, I don't have the heart to tell her, she still thinks she had a miscarriage."

"You know, you're gonna have to tell her the truth eventually, don't you?" Jason asked, tossing his keys on the table and hanging his jacket in the closet. Spinelli nodded.

"I know, but I don't know how to do that, I'm afraid once she finds out the truth, it'll be over between us."

Jason nodded.

"But don't you think it would be better for her to hear the truth from you than someone else? Maxie loves you with all her heart, it may be hard for her at first, but she'll come to terms with it eventually, just be honest with her."

Spinelli nodded.

"Perhaps Stone Cold is correct, she'll be angrier with me if I lie to her than if I tell her the truth about what happened, I'm just not sure how I'm going to do it, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"I know, but trust me, the truth is always your best bet."

He nodded and picked up the phone.

"Who're you calling?"

"I'm hungry, I'm ordering pizza."

Jason took the phone out of his hand and hung up, tossing it on the couch. He glared at Spinelli.

"Are you crazy?"

"No, just hungry, what's the problem?"

"Don't you remember what happened the last time we ordered pizza? We ended up quarantined with Claudia Zacharra and then we both came down with Asian Ague and you ended up in the hospital. No thanks, I don't feel like reliving that experience. There's food in the kitchen if you're hungry."

Spinelli pouted.

"The chances of another pizza delivery guy having the dreaded Ague is like one in ten-million, besides, that was ages ago, I'm sure no harm will come from me ordering pizza."

Jason shook his head.

"No pizza, go fix a sandwich or something. There's orange soda in the fridge."

Spinelli walked into the kitchen, speaking over his shoulder as he opened the refrigerator and scanned the contents.

"Orange soda is but small consolation, I really wanted pizza, I've been craving it all day."

Jason raised an eyebrow.

"You've been craving pizza, Spin, are you pregnant?"

He turned around, frozen pizza in hand and a hurt look on his face. He looked to be on the brink of tears and Jason mentally kicked himself for his poor choice of words.

"How could you make a joke like that given the current situation, have you no heart? I don't find that the least bit amusing."

Jason shook his head.

"I'm sorry, man, I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't joke like that. I can't begin to imagine what you and Maxie must be going through right now."

Spinelli nodded as he preheated the oven and prepared to cook the pizza. After it was in, he turned to face his mentor.

"Yes well, this isn't something I would wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy, however, as hard as this has been on me, I know it must be a million times worse for Maximista."

******

Maxie lay on her bed in a fetal position with her arms clasped around her knees, rocking back and forth, bawling her eyes out. As much as she wanted it not to be true, she couldn't deny the truth anymore, their baby was gone and it was never coming back.

"Why does everyone I love leave me?" she sobbed to the empty room. "Am I such a horrible person that no one can stand to be around me? I'm so sorry, Spinelli, I never meant for this to happen, I swear. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" she repeated over and over in an endless litany. Reaching for her cell phone, she dialed a number.

"It's Maxie," She said into the phone. "can you please come, I could really use a friend right now."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

A/N: I absolutely loved the fight that Johnny and Spinelli had over Maxie so much that I included it in this chapter. I changed the setting from the pier to Maxie's hospital room in order to fit it into my plot, but the fight itself is word for word the same as it was on the show. Thank you to whoever posted the scene on YouTube for that. I used the fight as a jumping off point for the rest of this chapter to explain what happens later.

******

Spinelli walked down the hall to Maxie's room, humming to himself and smiling, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Maxie's doctors had set her up in outpatient therapy and given the okay for her to go home and he had come to pick her up.

"Darling Maximista, I've come to take you home, are you ready to…?"

His voice trailed off and the flowers fell unnoticed to the floor as he stared at the scene unfolding before him. Maxie and the Mob Prince were locked in a heated and very passionate embrace, heedless of their surroundings or who might be watching. He felt as if someone had punched him in the gut and knocked the wind out of him as he watched his fiancée, the woman he loved more than life itself in the arms of another man. Shaking himself out of his daze, he strode forward, lividly.

"Stop," He shouted, forgetting in his anger that he was in a hospital and should therefore keep his voice down out of respect for the other patients. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves, both of you!"

They jumped in surprise and pulled apart, Maxie looked guilty, like a child caught lying. Johnny took a step forward.

"Spinelli, this isn't what…"

He glared at Johnny.

"Shut up," he began, in a low, dangerous voice, his hands shaking as he tried valiantly to control his rage, "there is no excuse for this abomination, what if fair Lulu had stumbled upon this display of unrestrained lust, do you have any idea how heart-crushing that would be for the woman you claim to love or the woman who was your best friend?" he asked, turning to include Maxie in his tirade.

Maxie shook her head.

"I wouldn't say that." she muttered, looking at the floor, too ashamed to meet his gaze.

"Lulu and I broke up," Johnny stated softly, "that's part of the reason this happened, I finally told her what's been going on between me and Maxie."

Spinelli looked back and forth between Johnny and Maxie in shock, not wanting to believe his ears.

"Perhaps you should enlighten me as well."

Maxie spoke up.

"Don't misunderstand, there's nothing going on."

"Maxie and I are attracted to each other."

"Superficially."

Spinelli nodded slowly.

"The picture is becoming clear, the Mob Prince shattered the original Blonde One's heart and then made a land speed record to push his unwelcome advances on fair Maximista."

She shook her head in denial.

"That's not what happened."

Ignoring Maxie, Spinelli directed all of his anger at Johnny, instead.

"You are a scoundrel, sir, undeserving of the reflection of Maximista's glow and you have made a mockery of the love that my friend Lulu felt for you."

Johnny shook his head.

"I can't argue with any of that."

"Well, then now is the time to reclaim the title of gentleman, leave us."

He started to turn toward Maxie, but sensing that Johnny hadn't moved, he turned back toward him.

"Damn it, I said go!" he snarled, letting his fist fly, punching Johnny in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Maxie ran up and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Johnny.

"Spinelli, stop, what are you doing?"

"Defending your honor against the cretin who would violate you."

"Johnny didn't violate anything, the kiss just happened, I never meant to hurt you." She looked on the verge of tears as she faced her injured fiancé, or she may as well say ex-fiancé now because she didn't see how he was ever going to be able to forgive her for this one. Spinelli just stared at her.

"I daresay you didn't think of me at all."

"Alright look," Jonny said, making to step between them, "this is getting blown way out of proportion."

Spinelli looked as if he wanted to hit him again.

"I suppose you're gonna say it was just a kiss and didn't mean anything."

"It didn't!"

"I doubt Lulu would agree."

"I told you Spinelli, Lulu and I broke up, that's part of the reason this happened."

He shook his head in disgust.

"The other part being the rapidly more difficult to deny physical attraction between you two?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Alright look, you two need to talk this out, I'm outta here."

He left the room, walking swiftly down the hall, toward the elevator, leaving the two injured lovers alone. Maxie turned to Spinelli.

"Oh God," She whispered, burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, please try to understand, it's been a really rough day. Lulu was messing around with my career at work and I was mad at her…"

"Right," Spinelli stated, trying desperately to keep the tears out of his eyes, not wanting to give Maxie the satisfaction of knowing how badly his heart was breaking. "Oh, of course, the only natural solution to every altercation is to go for the jugular, it doesn't matter if the disagreement is important or trivial, the end result has to be maximum damage."

Maxie sniffled.

"Why are you talking to me like this?" She asked, in the little girl tone again.

"Wh-like what?"

"Cold and detached, not you."

"How would you have me respond?" Spinelli exploded, throwing his hands up in frustration. "What constitutes proper behavior when the only girl you desire makes it perfectly clear she prefers Mr. perfect forty-one regular."

Maxie shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"No Spinelli, that's not true, you're my…"

"If you say 'essential person', I will start screaming and never stop."

"You are." She whimpered, eyes glued to the floor.

"Your actions belie your words."

She shook her head, the look in her eyes pleading with him to believe her.

"It was just a moment, Johnny and I were both mad and frustrated and we…we kissed, but it's not gonna happen again."

He sighed.

"I don't believe you."

"It's true."

"Maxie, I don't believe you, it's entirely possible that you believe yourself, but you have yet to get to the point where you can admit your feelings for Johnny. I don't…I don't think you're a bad person, Maxie, I don't think you deliberately set out to hurt the only two friends that you can rightfully claim, but I am convinced of your physical desire for Johnny and based on the circumstantial evidence of Lulu's breakup with him, I suspect she is too."

"I think that desire is too strong of a word." Maxie protested.

"No, it's the perfect word, you're attracted to edge and Johnny provides it in spades; he's brooding, he's unpredictable, he's…heh…he's the perfect Byronic hero, he risked his life to save yours, not once, but twice in one night! Can you look me in the eye and deny all that?"

She sniffled and shook her head.

"No, yes Johnny saved my life and yes he's attractive in a bad boy kind of way that I'm attracted to on some primal level, but it doesn't matter because we were never together."

"You seemed pretty close to me."

Maxie stared at him in shock, amazed by his jealousy.

"I explained to you why we kissed."

"Oh right, right, I'm sorry, it was an obscure effort to get back at Lulu? Oh no, it was uh, it was deliberate so that Lulu would fight for her man, I'm sorry if I get confused, these emotional convolutions are very taxing on my linear mind. But I digress, hey, now Johnny's free; nothing stands in the way of your pursuit; I mean, certainly not me, so…"

Maxie sobbed.

"Maybe this is the point where I wish you luck," He continued, ignoring her tears.

"Spinelli, if only I could make you understand that I-I-it doesn't matter if two people kiss each other as long as they don't take it to a point where they can't come back, then there's no harm done."

He looked at her as if she were a stranger, someone he didn't know, or perhaps an alien from another planet.

"Even if I could accept that convenient and willful ignorance on the way your actions or non-actions or half-actions impact others; there's still one question that is vitally important."

Maxie nodded.

"Okay."

"Do I now or will I ever inspire that primal desire that the Mob Prince does without even trying?"

She didn't say anything. Spinelli nodded, sighing in resignation, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"As I thought," He said, the tears evident in his voice, as he turned and started to walk away, "as I've always known."

"Oh," he added, his voice choked by tears, "good luck."

He left without a backward glance, as Maxie bent down and picked up the flowers he'd dropped and smelled them before dumping them into the trashcan, then she sat down on the bed and sobbed as she watched her whole world slowly crumble around her.

******

Spinelli entered the penthouse, closing the front door and looking around to make sure he was alone.

"Stone Cold, are you home?" He called, walking through the living room. Receiving no answer, he went upstairs to his room and shut the door. Stretching out on the bed, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the plastic bag he'd procured on his way home from the hospital. He hadn't smoked the stuff in over a year after Jason confiscated his stash and made it perfectly clear that drugs weren't allowed in his home. He'd given what he had to Sam to give to her mom to help treat her cancer. But just because he hadn't smoked it in awhile, didn't mean he didn't still know where to get it. He knew Jason would be pissed beyond belief if he came home and caught him smoking pot, but he needed something to help ease the pain of his broken heart. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the image of Maxie and Johnny out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw them kissing and it drove a knife that much deeper into his already bleeding heart. Sighing, he shook his head to dislodge the unwelcome image and quickly rolled the joint with skilled hands. Digging the lighter out of his pocket, he quickly lit it and inhaled, enjoying the feeling of the smoke burning his lungs, before exhaling, the smoke drifting toward the ceiling. After his second toke, he felt himself starting to relax and leaned back on the bed, closing his eyes. Sighing, he crushed out the half-smoked joint in the ashtray and stood up, he needed to get out of here for awhile, take a drive and clear his head. As soon as he stood up, the room tilted at a most unpleasant angle and he put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Shaking his head to clear it, he made his way downstairs, he grabbed the keys to the car Jason always let him drive and walked out the door. As Spinelli drove, he reached over and flipped on the radio, turning it up as loud as it would go and starting to sing along. Suddenly, he started laughing, he wasn't even sure what he was laughing at, he just knew he suddenly didn't have a care in the world. Why had he been so upset over Maxie, anyway? She and Johnny deserved each other. Good riddance to them both. He was better off without her, at least in his opinion. Suddenly, Spinelli was blinded by headlights coming straight at him, he never had time to react, as the other car came barreling toward him, much too fast. He heard glass shatter and metal crunch and then everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

******

Sam knocked on Jason's door and waited. When no one came to the door, she opened it and walked in.

"Jason, Spinelli, anybody home? It's me, Sam."

Receiving no answer, she decided to check upstairs. Upon entering the hallway, she noticed a strange odor lingering in the air. Sniffing the air, her eyes widened in shock as it dawned on her what the smell was.

"He wouldn't," She muttered, hurrying toward Spinelli's room. Surely, he wouldn't do something so incredibly stupid, would he? He hadn't smoked in over a year, not since he'd given it to Alexis to help with her cancer. His door was open and the room appeared to be empty.

"Spinelli, are you here, it's Sam."

There was no answer, Sam's eyes wandered around the room until she spotted something sitting on the table and walked over to investigate.

"Holy crap, I guess he would, but why?"

She carefully wrapped the half-smoked joint in a tissue and put it in her purse, intending to show it to Jason later. Suddenly, her cell phone rang.

"Hello? Jason, I was just looking for you, where are you? Oh, my God, is he okay, what happened? Yeah, I'm on my way, I'll be right there."

She quickly hung up and dialed Maxie's number.

"Hello?"

"Maxie, it's Sam, Jason just called me, he's at the hospital with Spinelli; there was an accident. Okay, I'll pick you up in five, are you at Mac's? Okay, calm down, sweetheart, I'm sure he'll be fine, I'll be right there."

When Sam pulled up in front of Mac's house, she found Maxie waiting on the porch; she ran out to the car and climbed into the passenger side. Sam looked at her sympathetically.

"This is gonna sound like an incredibly stupid question right now, but are you okay? When you answered the phone, I could tell you'd been crying, what happened?"

Maxie dug a tissue out of her purse and wiped her eyes.

"Spinelli walked in on me and Johnny kissing this morning, we had a fight and he walked out on me."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow," She muttered, under her breath, "that certainly explains it. I'm assuming you guys broke up, then?"

Maxie nodded.

"In all likelihood, yes, I mean, Spinelli didn't come right out and say it, but I've never seen him that upset before. I mean, not that I blame him, kissing Johnny was the stupidest thing I could possibly do. I don't love Johnny; I don't even really like him that much."

"So then, why did you kiss him?"

Maxie shrugged.

"I have absolutely no idea why I do most of the stuff I do, I just seem to have this really bad habit of screwing up anything good that happens to me."

Her eyes filled with tears again.

"And now Spinelli could be dying and I'll never be able to tell him how sorry I am or how much I really do love him. God, why am I so stupid, why do I do such idiotic things?"

Sam decided it best not to mention the fact that Spinelli had been high at the time of his accident, Maxie already felt bad enough, she really didn't see any sense in making her feel worse. She reached over and gave Maxie's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, okay? Everybody screws up once in awhile, nobody's perfect, it's called being human. I'm sure Spinelli will forgive you because he loves you and let's face it, that's just the kind of guy he is, all you have to do is prove to him that he comes first in your life."

Maxie laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, if he even lives long enough to forgive me."

Her face turned pale as she realized what she'd just said and she clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking her head in denial.

"Oh God, Sam, he can't die, he just can't, I don't know what I'd do without him. He has to be okay, he just has to."

Sam nodded.

"He will be, he's tough, Maxie, he's gonna pull through, you just have to have faith, okay?"

She nodded wordlessly and stared at the lights of the hospital building as they pulled into the parking lot and rushed into the building. Sam spotted Jason standing in the middle of the lobby, pacing back and forth, with an extremely scared look on his face. Maxie marveled at this fact; she didn't think Jason "Stone Cold" Morgan was even capable of feeling fear, or any other human emotion, for that matter, except maybe anger, she'd seem him angry plenty of times, a lot of them aimed at her, but she'd never seen him scared before and right now he looked positively terrified. That fact alone was enough to put a cold knot of fear in her stomach and send her heart racing at warp speed.

"Jason!"

He turned when he heard Sam call his name as she and Maxie hurried over to him.

"Sam, Maxie, I'm so glad you're here."

"How's Spinelli?" Maxie asked, seeing Jason's red-rimmed, watery eyes, proof he'd been fighting tears, confirming her fears that the situation was bad, really bad.

He shook his head.

"It's not good, I was here visiting Michael when they brought him in and God, I've never seen so much blood in my life and I work for the Mob, I've shot people."

Sam and Jason both rushed forward as Maxie's legs suddenly gave out, Jason caught her before she fell and helped her to a chair. Sam sat next to her, concerned about her heart.

"Honey, are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy, that's all."

"Does your chest hurt, should I get somebody, Robin or someone?"

She shook her head.

"No, my heart's fine, really; I'm just worried about Spinelli. Where is he, can I see him?"

Jason shook his head.

"He's in surgery, but from what Dr. Hunter said, they don't look for him to ever walk again."

Maxie jumped to her feet.

"You let that egotistical jerk operate on him, are you nuts? Don't you remember what happened after Spinelli was hit by a car and had to have his spleen removed?"

He shook his head.

"Maxie, I wasn't here then remember; you were."

She nodded.

"Yeah, well, that stupid jackass gave him counterfeit meds and he got really sick, he could've died and Matt Hunter didn't even care, all he seemed to be concerned about was trying to one-up Patrick, he didn't give a damn about Spinelli and you remember when you guys were on that stakeout and he got heatstroke?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the so-called, "Doctor" Hunter told him he had a brain tumor and nearly scared poor Spinelli half to death. He is not gonna be paralyzed, that idiot doesn't know anything, I demand a second opinion."

Jason sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Robin, Patrick, Liz, and Epiphany are all in there with him, he's in good hands, Maxie. They're not gonna let anything happen to him if they can help it."

She glared at him.

"They better not because if anything happens to him, I promise you there will be hell to pay, I'll see to it Matt Hunter never sets foot in this hospital again or any other hospital, for that matter."

Sam stepped forward and put her hands on Maxie's shoulders in an effort to calm her down.

"Maxie, listen to me, alright? Matt Hunter may be a conceited boor, but he's an excellent surgeon, plus like Jason said, Robin and the others are in the O.R. too, and you trust them, right?"

Maxie nodded.

"Of course."

Sam nodded.

"Okay, then prove it, have faith that he's gonna be okay."

She stood up and brushed invisible lint from her pink skirt. She nodded.

"I do, I'll be back, I'm gonna go to the chapel and say a prayer for him."

"Want me to come with you?"

"Naw, I'll be okay, thanks Sam, for everything."

They hugged.

"You don't have to thank me; Spinelli means a lot to me, too, we're partners, what would McCall and Jackal detective agency be without the Jackal? He's the brains of the outfit; besides, I'd miss him sending me out for barbecue chips and orange soda or watching him sit at his desk wearing that ridiculous fedora, lost in some fantasy, pretending he's Sam Spade in some old detective movie. "Besides, she added, deciding to tease Maxie a little, he's kinda cute."

"Hey," she playfully punched Sam in the shoulder, "hands off the merchandise, Spin's taken, get your own guy."

Sam laughed, but Maxie didn't miss the longing glance she gave Jason who stood a short distance away talking on his phone. Maxie walked down the hall and entered the hospital's chapel. As she lit a candle and knelt in front of the alter, she couldn't help but remember the last time she'd been in this room, the night of Michael's shooting when she and Spinelli had come to pray for his recovery and now here she was again, praying for the recovery of the man she loved.

"Dear God," she began in a trembling voice, "I know that I'm not nearly as religious as I should be and I know that I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, so many in fact, that I can't keep track of them all. But I promise, if you let Spinelli get well, I'll do better, I'll try, anyway. I know I don't deserve him and I know he'll probably never forgive me for kissing Johnny and if he doesn't, I can't blame him. I mean, if the shoe was on the other foot and I caught him kissing Winifred, I'd be furious. All I ask is that you heal him and help him to understand that everyone makes mistakes and that I love him. Amen."

"Maxie,"

She stood up and turned to find Sam standing in the doorway. She smiled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, I just came to let you know that he's out of surgery and the doctors are waiting to talk to us."

She stood up and followed her friend back to the waiting room where they found Jason deep in conversation with Patrick and Robin, Matt was thankfully nowhere to be seen.

The three turned when they sensed Sam and Maxie approaching. Maxie was the first to speak.

"Robin, Patrick, how's Spinelli, please tell me the surgery went well."

Patrick nodded.

"It went as well as could be expected, considering…"

Maxie crossed her arms and glared at her cousin's boyfriend.

"What do you mean considering, what is there to consider, the surgery either went well or it didn't."

Robin sighed.

"Maxie, Spinell's legs were crushed and there was massive internal bleeding which we managed to get under control, but there was too much damage to the spinal cord."

Maxie looked back and forth between Robin and Patrick in disbelief as her eyes slowly filled with tears. She shook her head in denial covering her mouth with her hand.

"So what Matt told Jason really was the truth then, he really is paralyzed?"

Robin nodded as she stepped forward and enveloped her cousin in a hug.

"I'm afraid so, oh sweetie, I'm so sorry."

She pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Can I see him?"

"Sure, he's in ICU room 12, but before you go in there, I should warn you, he's pretty banged up, the whole left side of his face is bruised and he has a ventilator tube in his mouth, he won't be able to talk to you or anything."

She nodded.

"Okay, thanks Robin, I love you."

She smiled.

"I love you too; tell Spinelli we're all praying for him."

"I will."

Maxie took the elevator to the eighth floor and entered the ICU wing. Upon finding his room, she stood outside the window looking in at him, trying to gather the courage to go in. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and entered the room. The room was eerily silent; the only sounds being the whoosh of the ventilator and the steady beep beep beep of the heart monitor. She pulled a chair beside his bed and sat down, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently.

"Spin, it's Maxie, can you hear me? If you can hear me, squeeze my hand, okay?"

She smiled as she felt him barely squeeze her hand.

"Good, you can hear me, that's good."

"Nnngyah."

She looked up at the slight noise he made and saw him watching her through his one good eye, the other one swollen shut. She reached over and tenderly brushed the hair off his forehead, being careful not to touch the bandage above his left eye.

"Sssh, don't try to talk, just listen, okay, hear me out, please?"

One squeeze, yes.

"When you walked in on me and Johnny kissing, I swear it didn't mean anything, it was a stupid mistake and I'd give anything if I could take it back, but I can't. I love you, Spinelli; please don't let us be over. Please give me another chance."

One squeeze for yes.

He gestured toward the pad of paper and pen on the table, she handed it to him and he scribbled a note and handed it to her.

_No need to say sorry, my fault, not yours._

She read it quickly and glanced up at him, shaking her head.

"No, it's not your fault; it's mine, I should never have kissed Johnny, I'm so sorry. I love you, Spinelli."

He took the pad from her and scribbled quickly.

_I love you too, Maximista, don't worry all is forgiven._

She laid her head on his chest, sobbing as Spinelli stroked her hair soothingly. She knew she didn't deserve his forgiveness, but she couldn't begin to describe how thankful she was that he had forgiven her. Their tender reunion was interrupted when Dr. Hunter entered the room and approached the bed.

"Hello, Mr. Spinelli, glad to see you're awake."

Spinelli made a face at Maxie behind Dr. Hunter's back to show his displeasure at seeing Dr. Doom, she giggled.

"Since you're awake now, we can take you off the ventilator and put you on regular oxygen, how does that sound?"

He nodded.

"Okay, on the count of three, ready one, two, three."

The doctor pulled the tube out of his throat quickly. Spinelli winced.

"Ouch, that hurt."

Dr. Hunter made a notation on his chart.

"How do you feel now?" He asked, as he shined a light in Spinelli's eyes.

"My throat hurts."

The doctor nodded.

"Your throat will be sore for a few days because of the tube, but that shouldn't last long. Any other questions?"

Spinelli sat lost in thought for a moment.

"As a matter of fact, now that you mention it, the Jackal does have one pressing question that he'd love to have answered."

"What's that?"

"Why can't I feel my legs?"

Dr. Hunter sat his clipboard on the table and looked his patient in the eye.

"Mr. Spinelli, you were in a car accident, do you remember anything about that?"

He shook his head.

"Not really."

"Well, we did a toxicology screen on you and found marijuana in your system. Were you driving under the influence of anything, Mr. Spinelli?"

Spinelli pressed his hand against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to recall what had happened. He shook his head in frustration.

"I can't remember."

Dr. Hunter crossed his arms, a skeptical look on his face.

"You're telling me you don't remember anything about what happened; I find that hard to believe."

Maxie stood up and glared at him.

"Hey, if he says he doesn't remember what happened, he doesn't and if you don't back off right now; I'll call Nikolas Cassadine and tell him you're harassing a patient."

"Ms. Jones, this isn't the first time you've threatened me and to be completely honest, it's really starting to get old. Now Mr. Spinelli, to answer your previous question, the reason why you can't feel your legs is because you were driving under the influence of drugs and you are now paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a collision."

The silence in the room was deafening as Spinelli stared at him in shock, trying desperately to grasp the implications of this dire pronouncement. He closed his eyes and sighed, as his head fell back against the pillow. Clenching the bed sheets in his fists, he opened his eyes and looked Dr. Hunter in the eye.

"Give it to me straight, Doc," He stated, trying desperately to keep the emotion out of his voice, the last thing he needed was to lose his composure and give Dr. Doom yet another reason to look at him as a freak or less of a man.

"Are you telling me I'm never gonna walk again?"

"The chances of you regaining the use of your legs is very slim, although not completely impossible, it all depends on you and how hard you work in physical therapy."

Spinelli pushed the tray table across the room so hard, it banged into the wall and flipped over. He glared at Matt Hunter angrily.

"Why don't you spare me the 'you reap what you sow' crap and just be honest, I'm gonna be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

He nodded.

"Fine, you want honesty, yeah, you're more than likely going to spend the rest of your life as a paraplegic and the sooner you come to terms with that fact, the better off you'll be. Now, we'll give you a few days to heal from the operation and then in about a week, you'll start physical therapy. How does that sound?"

Spinelli crossed his arms and pouted.

"Yippee-Skippy can't wait."

"The hospital psychologist will be here shortly to talk to you."

"Great."

Maxie took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze; he jerked it away, glaring at her.

"Don't touch me," He snapped, giving her a dirty look.

She gave him a hurt look.

"Spinelli, I understand that you're devastated by this news and I'm sorry. I can't begin to imagine what you must be going through right now; but you don't have to take it out on me, especially when all I'm trying to do is be supportive and help you through this the best way I know how and you're acting like a jerk toward me."

He sighed; Maxie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him as he finally allowed himself to give in to the tears he'd fought so hard to hide ever since Dr. Hunter had given him this most shocking prognosis.

"I'm so sorry, Maximista, I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I'm just…"

"Shocked, I know. It's alright, I completely understand; this is gonna be a big adjustment, but I'm gonna be with you every step of the way, I promise. Sshh, I know this is scary, but I promise it'll be okay; please don't cry, baby."

He pulled out of the hug and hastily wiped the tears from his eyes, as there was a knock on the door. He looked up as Sam and Jason entered the room, she carrying a bouquet of flowers and Jason following behind with orange soda and his favorite barbeque chips. He smiled.

"Greetings, Stone Cold, fair Samantha, I'm only allotted one visitor at a time; how did you manage to get in here undetected?"

Sam set the tray table upright and set the flowers and the food on it as she and Jason approached the bed together. She winked.

"Nurse Crowell snuck us up here, Ssh, don't tell anybody, okay?"

He grinned as he pretended to lock his lips and throw away the key.

"Never fear, your secret is safe with me."

His eyes fell on the vase of flowers she'd placed on the table and he smiled.

"Those flowers are lovely, thank you."

"You're welcome, hon; we're all rooting for you to get better."

Jason nodded.

"She's right, you know, we are all pulling for you. Spinelli, listen, I know what those doctors told you, but I want you to listen to me, alright? Doctors are wrong all the time. I'm living proof of that, after my accident, the doctors told me I'd never wake up and now look at me; I'm up walking around just like nothing ever happened."

He nodded, but they could all see the uncertainty on his face. Jason smiled and clapped him on the shoulder affectionately.

"Hey, if you can manage to defuse a bomb in a room full of hostages with a gun pointed at your head; then walking should be a piece of cake."

Spinelli chuckled, rolling his eyes in mock-annoyance. Was Stone Cold never going to forget about that night at the Metro Court when Jerry Jax aka Mr. Craig or as Spinelli preferred to call him, The Unhinged One, pointed a gun at his head while he defused a bomb in the lobby of the Valkyrie's hotel? He chuckled weakly.

"As I've told you many times before, Stone Cold, you and fair Samantha were the real heroes that night; the Jackal merely did what was required of him in an extremely perilous situation, he by no means considers himself a hero."

"Well he should," Maxie declared, stepping forward and taking his hand, entwining their fingers together, "'cause he's my hero."

He sighed and closed his eyes. The time had come for him to tell her the truth about her "miscarriage", even if it meant that their already fragile relationship would be shattered beyond repair; he couldn't bear to keep the truth from her a moment longer.

"Sam, Stone Cold, the Jackal does not wish to appear rude, but would you mind leaving Maxie and I alone for a few minutes?"

Sam nodded as they headed for the door.

"Of course, take your time, we'll be right outside."

They left, closing the door behind them. Maxie turned to Spinelli, one hand on her hip and a worried look on her face.

"Okay, are you mad at me or something?"

"Of course not, why do you ask?"

"You called me Maxie instead of Maximista, the only time you call me by my real name is either when you're mad at me or you have bad news, which is it?"

He closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer asking for the strength to tell her the most devastating thing she'd heard since learning of lovely Georgie's untimely and tragic death.

"Spinelli, you're starting to scare me, please just tell me whatever it is, I promise I can handle it, whatever it is."

"I doubt that very highly."

"Damian Millhouse Spinelli, will you please stop beating around the damned bush and just tell me already!" Maxie exclaimed in frustration. He was really starting to freak her out with his cryptic remarks. He blew out an exasperated breath and glared at her.

"Fine," He snapped, his voice sounding harsher than he meant for it to. "what I have to tell you is without a doubt going to be one of the hardest things you've ever had to hear and certainly the hardest thing I've ever had to tell you, I was trying to gather my thoughts so that I might soften the blow a bit, but since _Maxie" _and here he put emphasis on her name, so she'd know he was rapidly losing patience with her, "since Maxie wants to be impatient with her Jackal, he shall just come right out and say it, your miscarriage wasn't really a miscarriage, there's more to it than that."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him suspiciously.

"What do you mean there's more to it than that? How much more exactly, what are you talking about, Damian?"

He blinked in surprise.

"Since when do you call me Damian? That's the second time you've called me by my first name in the last ten minutes, what gives?"

She began pacing around the room angrily.

"Stop trying to change the subject and just answer my question, it shouldn't be that hard for you to do, you're a bloody genius, after all."

Spinelli snickered.

"What's so funny?" Maxie demanded, hands on her hips, clearly not amused.

He sobered quickly.

"Nothing, I just never realized you were British, that's all."

She looked at him, thoroughly confused.

"What are you talking about, Spinelli?"

"You called me a 'bloody genius', bloody is a British term, I thought you came from Port Charles, not England."

Maxie picked up her purse and headed for the door.

"Fine, since all you want to do is make lame jokes at my expense, I'm leaving, whenever you decide to grow up and be serious, instead of acting like an immature ten year-old, I'll be back, until then, bye, Spinelli."

She started to walk out the door, but he called her back.

"Maximista, wait, please don't leave. I'm sorry, the Jackal always makes jokes when he's nervous, often at inappropriate times, but all joking aside, I really do need to tell you the truth."

"Fine, if you promise to just come out and say it this time, no more walking on eggshells, okay, and no more jokes?"

He nodded and took her hand as she sat beside his bed.

"Maximista, I know the doctors told you that you suffered a miscarriage, but that's not true."

She looked confused.

"What do you mean, I don't understand, I'm definitely not pregnant anymore, so if I didn't have a miscarriage, what did I have?"

"You had an abortion." He stared at his hands idly picking at a loose thread on the blanket, unable to look at her.

"Excuse me, I think I need to have my hearing checked; I could've sworn you just said I had an abortion."

He nodded.

"That is what I said."She stared at him in shock.

"How is that possible; they can't just do something like that without permission, it's illegal, not to mention unethical."

"They had my permission, I signed the consent form."

She laughed bitterly, shaking her head in disgust.

"You take hypocrisy to new heights, you know that?"

"How am I a hypocrite?"

"Oh my God, you did not seriously just ask me that question."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I did, where do you get off calling me a hypocrite, unlike some people, let's just say for instance, oh I don't know, **YOU, **I wasn't the one who got caught making out with someone else, and yet, you have the nerve to call me a hypocrite, that's pretty ballsy of you, in my opinion."

"You are so full of crap; you stood there knowing the doctors had lied to me and you didn't say a word to correct them, you just went along with it, even after you saw how it affected me; the emotional hell it put me through, still you kept silent, that Damian Spinelli makes you the biggest hypocrite of then all."

He turned away from her toward the wall.

"Fine, I'm a hypocrite, whatever, perhaps you'd have preferred to carry the baby to term and then have a heart attack in childbirth, well I'm sorry but I wasn't gonna let that happen, I love you, Maxie whether you want to believe it or not, it's the truth."

"Yeah right, why don't you be honest for once if you even know how, the truth is, once the fact that we were gonna have a baby sunk in, you got scared or maybe you decided you weren't ready to be a daddy after all and you took the easy way out, knowing that I was too sick to object and there'd be no one to stop you, that's the real reason you signed that consent form, admit it, Spinelli, you were scared."

The tight rein of control he'd kept on his emotions throughout the whole exchange finally snapped and he lost his composure.

"You're right," He yelled, "I was scared, but not for the reasons you think; the fact of my impending fatherhood didn't scare me nearly as much as the thought of being without you for the rest of my life. Regardless of what you may think, I love you with all my heart and the thought of having to spend the rest of my life without you kills me. When Dr. Lee told me that carrying the baby to term could cost you your life, I knew without a doubt what had to be done. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't take this decision lightly by any means; this was without a doubt the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but it was also the only decision I could've made."

He sighed and fought the lump that had risen into his throat.

"I'm sorry Maximista, I understand if you hate me; but I only did what I thought was best."

She sighed and wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair.

"I don't hate you, Spinelli, I was just shocked, that's all. I never in a million years thought that you of all people would lie to me or keep secrets from me, but I understand you were just trying to protect me. Tell you what; I'll forgive you for not telling me the truth about the baby if you'll forgive me for kissing Johnny."

He nodded and kissed her hand.

"I'll forgive you for your infidelity if you'll promise me it'll never happen again."

"Of course it'll never happen again; why would I repeat the biggest mistake I've ever made? I may be a lot of things, but I'm not stupid. When Sam called and told me about your accident, I was terrified, all I kept thinking was that something terrible had happened to you and I was never gonna get the chance to apologize and tell you how much I love you."

He smiled and returned her hug.

"I love you too, Maxie with everything in me, I'm sorry I kept secrets from you."

She nodded.

"I'm sorry I kissed Johnny, too, but let's not talk about it, anymore, okay? It's in the past, let's leave it there and concentrate on the future and your recovery."

He sighed.

"Right, my recovery, thanks for reminding me of my current handicap, I was actually trying to forget about it."

She smiled sympathetically.

"I'm sorry; I know you don't wanna talk about this right now, but the sooner you deal with it, the easier it'll be."

Spinelli nodded, he knew Maximista was right, but the thought of physical therapy and all the hard work required to get back on his feet seemed daunting; a mountain too high to climb. But he knew no matter how much it hurt or how much hard work was required, he had to give it everything he had because his friends and the woman he loved were counting on him to get well and he knew he couldn't let them down.

A/N: Next chapter will be Spinelli's first day in physical therapy and when he gets there, he will find a special gift from Jason waiting for him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: This chapter is the beginning of Spinelli's physical therapy. The reason I gave Spinelli's cousin Cerebral Palsy is because I have it myself and it's really the only disability I know anything about, other than paraplegia which I researched for this story. Also, Charlie is based on one of my own physical therapists. Please read and review. Enjoy. Also, while most of this story is rated T, this chapter is rated M for a rather steamy shower scene. Here's a question for you: If you had the opportunity to give Bradford Anderson a massage, would you? I know I would, as long as my boyfriend or Bradford's fiancée never found out. LOL.

*****

"Good morning, Damian, my name is Charlie and I'm going to be your physical therapist; what do you say we get started, okay?"

Spinelli nodded, looking around the room in awe; he'd never seen so much exercise equipment in one room before and he found it slightly intimidating. He turned back to the therapist and smiled. Charlie Thompson was a fit black man in his late twenties or early thirties who Spinelli guessed was probably a track star in college judging from his slim stature and the way he carried himself.

"Sounds good to me, but please call me Spinelli, everybody does; the only people who call me Damian are my Granny and my fiancée when she's mad at me."

Charlie laughed.

"Okay, Spinelli, before we get started, there's someone here you know and they have a surprise for you."

Spinelli looked at him in confusion.

"Who would be here to see me and what kind of surprise could they have for me? I hope Maxie didn't send more flowers; my

room already resembles a garden."

"No, Spinelli, it's not Maxie, it's me."

He looked up to see Jason trying unsuccessfully to maneuver a motorized wheelchair across the room and laughed when he ran over his own foot.

"Ow, damn it, I suck at this; I can't drive this thing to save my life."

He pretended to glare at the younger man.

"Shut up, Spinelli, it's not funny."

"Sorry, Stone Cold, the grasshopper doesn't mean to belittle his master's wheelchair driving skills; but yeah, it's kinda hilarious."

"Spinelli, don't make me hurt you. Here you think you can do better, be my guest."

He parked the orange wheelchair and hopping on one foot, hobbled to a chair and sat down, pulling off his shoe to examine his smashed toes. Spinelli clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter as Jason rubbed his sore foot.

"I'm sorry, Stone Cold, but it's not that hard to drive one of those things; actually it's very easy."

Jason gave him a skeptical look.

"You've driven an electric wheelchair before; when was this?"

"I have a cousin back home in Oakfield who was born with Cerebral Palsy and she had a chair like this and she taught me how to drive it. The controller is basically the same as the joystick on a video game; watch I'll prove it."

Charlie brought over a transfer board and helped Spinelli into the chair. He set up orange cones a few feet apart and stood back with his arms crossed.

"This is an obstacle course to see how long it takes you to make it through these cones without knocking them over. Ready, go."

He hit the button on his stopwatch and Spinelli quickly maneuvered the chair through the cones. Charlie hit the button on his stopwatch and smiled.

"Hm, 27 seconds, not bad, now let's see how good you are at maneuvering that thing through doors."

Spinelli nodded and followed Charlie across the room. As he started to guide the chair through, he misjudged the distance and banged into the doorframe. He sighed in frustration.

"Way to go, idiot," He muttered sarcastically, as he backed up and prepared to try again. The second try didn't prove to be any better than the first as he managed to get too close to the edge of the door causing him to smash his hand.

"Ow!"

Jason rushed over and grabbed his hand to inspect the damage, his brow wrinkling in concern for the man he thought of as a brother.

"Let me see, are you okay?"

Spinelli jerked his hand away from Jason roughly.

"I'm fine," He snapped, flexing his hand into a fist.

"Okay, sorry, man," Jason looked taken aback by his friend's sharp tone. Spinelli rarely yelled and when he did on occasion raise his voice, Jason knew something was really bothering him. Charlie stepped in front of his patient and placed his hands on his shoulders looking him in the eye.

"Hey, I understand that you're frustrated right now; but you need to chill out, okay? Relax."

He sighed and glared balefully at the therapist.

"Shut up, who asked you, anyway? I don't need your sympathy or your advice, I just need you to leave me the hell alone; think you can do that?"

He shook his head. As much as he hated to, it was time for him to get tough with the kid.

"No, I can't go away and I won't leave you alone. Damian, I'm not here to be your friend, I'm here to help you regain as much of your independence as possible. I'm not going to hold your hand or coddle you in any way, I'm going to make you work and sweat and hurt and you'll probably hate me 90% of the time, but in the end you'll thank me for helping you to come back to yourself and to your friends and family too. It's okay to get mad and scream and throw tantrums now, but eventually, you're gonna have to suck it up and face the fact that that chair is more than likely going to become a permanent fixture in your life whether you want it to be or not. Now back up, concentrate and get your butt through that doorway."

He backed the chair up and aimed for the door again. Bam.

"AAAAGGGHH!"

He screamed in frustration and headed in the opposite direction. Charlie and Jason ran after him. The physical therapist grabbed Jason's arm and shook his head when Jason attempted to kneel in front of the wheelchair where Spinelli sat dejectedly, shoulders slumped and head lowered in defeat.

"No, leave him alone, he needs to blow off some steam, if he doesn't, he's never gonna learn to accept his disability and he's gonna be angry and bitter for the rest of his life and he's gonna take it out on everyone around him, including you, you don't want that, do you?"

Jason shook his head.

"No, of course not, I'm just trying to help him, that's all."

Charlie nodded.

"I know you are, but I'm telling you, the best way you can do that is to leave him alone, okay? Look, I've been a physical therapist for about five years now and I've seen a lot of people just like Spinelli. One day, they're vital, healthy, active people and then the next thing they know, bam, they find themselves unable to even go to the bathroom by themselves or dress themselves; the things they used to take for granted, they no longer can and there's no worse feeling in the world than having to be dependent on another person for the things you used to be able to do for yourself. Part of my job as well as the occupational therapist's job is to get him back to the level of independence he had before the accident, or as close to it as possible. My job is to do the physical exercise part and Melissa the O.T. will do the everyday living stuff, toileting, dressing, stuff like that."

Jason nodded.

"I see; how can I help?"

"Honestly, the best way for you to help him is to stay out of his way, like I said before, he's very angry right now and he needs to focus all of his attention on getting better. I need him 100% focused on his rehabilitation or none of this will matter in the least."

"I understand, tell Spinelli I'll see him later."

Charlie nodded and walked over to him as Jason left the rehab room. Spinelli looked up as he approached.

"Where did Stone Cold go?" He asked; looking toward the doorway Jason had just exited from.

"I don't know who Stone Cold is," Charlie replied, walking across the room toward the punching bag, "but if you're referring to your friend, Mr. Morgan, he left."

"Why?"

"Because I told him to, now come on, you have work to do, let's go."

Spinelli glared at him.

"Don't tell me what to do, Hitler."

The therapist stopped walking and turned around.

"What did you just call me?"

"Hitler, he was a dictator and so are you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yup, you don't seem to care how I feel about any of this, you just bark orders and expect me to obey like some mindless robot, programmed to obey voice commands, well has it ever occurred to you that maybe if you were a little nicer to me, instead of acting like a jerk, this might be a bit more pleasant for both of us?"

Charlie shrugged and tossed him bandages and a pair of boxing gloves.

"Like I told you earlier, I'm not here to be your friend; I'm here to help you recover. Now wrap your hands and put the gloves on, I don't have all day."

Spinelli rolled his eyes as he began wrapping his hands.

"Yes, master," He muttered under his breath as he put the gloves on. Charlie pointed to the punching bag.

"Hit it."

Spinelli reached out and took a swing at the bag, it barely moved. Charlie laughed.

"You call that a hit? Please, my six-year-old daughter hits harder than that, that's just a love tap, now hit it."

As Spinelli punched the bag, the therapist stood back and watched, shaking his head in amusement.

"That's pathetic, come on, wimp, is that the best you can do? Put some muscle behind it, spaghetti arms."

"Shut up!"

"Ooh, hit a nerve did I, maybe I should start calling you Stephanie instead of Spinelli; what kind of person goes by their last name, anyway, what's wrong with Damian?"

Spinelli kept his eyes trained on the punching bag and didn't reply.

"What's the matter, Stephanie, cat got your tongue?"

"Bite me."

"Oh, good comeback, must've taken a long time to come up with that one."

"I hate you."

"Good, that means I'm doing my job right, now punch."

Spinelli took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to keep his emotions under control. This guy was really starting to piss him off in a major way and it was taking every bit of self-control he could muster not to go off on the jerk.

"You're not hitting, come on, picture someone you really can't stand and pretend you're hitting them."

Suddenly before his eyes, two faces appeared side by side on the punching bag; the faces of the two people he despised more than anyone else; Mr. Corinthos, Sir and Charlie and to make matters worse, he could hear their voices in his head, taunting him.

"Hey freaky boy, why don't you speak English for once and stop babbling, I can never understand what the hell you're talking about."

"Come on, wimp, is that the best you got, my daughter hits harder than that. What's the matter, Stephanie, cat got your tongue?"

Suddenly, his anger got the better of him and he let loose with a barrage of punches, raining his fury down on the punching bag.

"I am not a freak, I am not a wimp and my name is Spinelli, not Stephanie!"

His assault was disrupted by the sound of clapping. He turned around to find the therapist applauding him; a genuine smile on his face. Spinelli looked at him in confusion as he wiped the perspiration from his face with a towel.

"May the Jackal inquire as to why the dictator is applauding?"

"You just proved me right."

"What?"

"I knew that if I made you mad enough you'd give it everything you had just to prove me wrong and guess what, it worked."

Spinelli looked at him incredulously.

"You used reverse psychology on me."

Charlie nodded.

"Yes, I did and it worked like a charm. Good job kid, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks."

Charlie nodded and looked at his watch.

"We've got about fifteen minutes left, you ready to tackle the door again?"

He nodded.

"Sure."

He aimed his chair toward the doorway and after carefully checking to make sure there was enough room on either side of the doorframe; he maneuvered the wheelchair smoothly through. He turned around, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Charlie high-fived him.

"Way to go, man. See, I told you, you'd get the hang of it once you calmed down and took your time, instead of getting all worked up. Now, go on, get outta here and I'll see you on Wednesday."

Spinelli looked confused.

"What about tomorrow?"

Charlie shook his head.

"Tomorrow is Melissa's day with you. She's the occupational therapist, she'll teach you how to do transfers and stuff. I see you on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and she sees you on Tuesday and Thursday."

He nodded.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later, Stephanie."

Spinelli shook his head and laughed good-naturedly.

"Okay, bye, Dictator."

They laughed and Spinelli headed toward his room.

"Hey, Sexy."

He looked up and smiled when he saw Maxie sitting on the bed, waiting for him. He wheeled toward her.

"Hey, you're looking pretty sexy yourself. Come here."

She squealed as he pulled her onto his lap and began nuzzling her neck.

"Ew, gross, you're all sweaty."

He pretended to pout.

"Does this mean I don't get my kiss?"

"Will you shower if I kiss you?"

He nodded.

"Uh-huh."

"Promise?"

"Yes, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Can you help me into the shower? There's a bench in there, but I'm not too good with transfers yet and I don't wanna fall."

She smiled at the thought of seeing him naked.

"Sure, as long as I can join you."

He smiled lasciviously.

"But of course, that's the point."

She followed him into the bathroom and helped him get from his chair to the shower chair. Once he was seated, he removed his clothes and placed them on the seat before Maxie backed the chair a safe distance away so it wouldn't get wet before shedding her own clothing. Stepping into the stall, she pulled the curtain closed and turned the water on, adjusting the temperature so it was neither too hot nor too cold. Spinelli winced rubbing the muscles in his neck. Maxie looked concerned.

"What's wrong, baby?" She asked as she trailed kisses down his shoulder.

"Sore."

"Where does it hurt?" She asked, continuing to trail kisses across his skin.

"Neck, shoulders, back, pretty much my entire upper body feels like one giant muscle spasm at the moment."

"Awww, poor baby, don't worry, Maximista will take care of that for you."

"Ooooh," He moaned, as she began kneading his shoulders, "God, that feels so good, please don't stop."

"Oh, don't worry," she whispered, as she nibbled on his earlobe. "I have no intention of stopping, I'm just getting started, baby."

She trailed her hands down his back and he felt the tension ease out of his body. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her around to face him and pulled her down onto his lap.

"Come here," He growled, playfully, then groaned in frustration when Maxie pretended to dodge his kiss.

He grinned.

"Tease."

Grinning mischievously, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Groaning, Spinelli wrapped his hand around the back of Maxie's head, pulling her forward to plunder her mouth with his tongue. She moaned into his mouth as he reached down and slid his hand between her legs. As he slid a finger inside her and began to pump it in and out of her, Maxie moaned and arched her back, desperate to get as close to him as possible.

"Mmm, Spinelli, please."

As a second finger joined the first, Spinelli felt her muscles tighten around his fingers and knew she was close.

"Oooh, baby, yes, oooh, SPINELLI!"

He pressed his lips to hers in an attempt to muffle her cries as she climaxed, otherwise, every doctor and nurse on the floor would come running to see what the problem was. She collapsed against him as he stroked her hair and waited for her breathing to slow. She looked at him in awe, a smile slowly spread across her face.

"That was just…wow."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Very descriptive, now let's finish up and get out of here before we both turn into prunes."

*****

"Mmmm, that was relaxing, we should definitely take showers together more often."

After their shower, Spinelli had changed into a pair of black shorts and a gray t-shirt and Maxie had put her same clothes back on, seeing as how she hadn't brought any with her and they were now lying side by side on the bed as Maxie idly traced patterns on his chest with her fingers. He nodded.

"The Jackal concurs."

Maxie giggled as he yawned.

"Looks to me like the Jackal needs a nap."

He nodded, his brow wrinkling in concern.

"I am rather exhausted, physical therapy proved to be quite strenuous, much more than I expected, however, the Jackal feels he owes Maximista an apology."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't make love to you the way that I wanted to."

She looked confused.

"What're you talking about, Spinelli? It was fine."

He shook his head.

Love, you need not pretend you enjoyed it, the Jackal has always been lacking in manly prowess and I'm afraid that's more true than ever now. What transpired between us was but mere foreplay, I have been rendered useless when it comes to actual intercourse. Perhaps, you would be better off with someone who can give you what the Jackal can no longer provide."

She propped herself up on her elbow.

"Stop it, now you're just feeling sorry for yourself."

He shook his head.

"I'm merely telling it like it is."

"No, you're not. Spinelli there are lots of ways to make love, it's not limited to simply one thing. Just because you weren't able to penetrate, doesn't mean we didn't make love because that's exactly what we did do. Besides, you don't hear me complaining, do you?"

"No, but…"

"No buts, listen honey, I know this situation royally sucks and I know you're frustrated by the fact that you can't do things as easily as you used to be able to, but that's what the therapy is for, to help you relearn everything, you just have to be patient and give it time, it's not gonna happen overnight."

He looked down sadly.

"All the P.T. in the world won't help with this problem, I'm afraid."

Maxie shook her head.

"You might be surprised, I did some research online and they've come up with all these new medical techniques to help in that area, stuff that wasn't around a few years ago."

He looked up, his interest piqued.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh, can I lay back down now, that nap sounds really good and besides, you owe me cuddle time, mister."

He raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Oh, I do, do I?

"Yes, you do."

"Says who?"

"Says me, I'm sleepy, so quit arguing and scoot already."

"What's the magic word?"

She sighed.

"Spinelli…"

He shook his head.

"Nope, sorry, try again."

"Please?"

He smiled.

"Very good, now get down here."

Maxie resumed her previous position as Spinelli wrapped his arm around her and stroked her hair.

"You are so bossy."

He smiled as her eyes drifted closed.

"Yeah, but that's part of the reason you love me, now hush and go to sleep."

"Yes sir, Mr. Jackal Bossy Britches."

"Are you comparing me to a cartoon now?"

She cracked one eye open and looked at him.

"Huh, what are you talking about, I thought you wanted to sleep?"

"There's a cartoon called that or something like it, I believe."

Maxie laughed.

"Spinelli, you're thinking of Spongebob Sqarepants."

"Yeah, that's it."

"Well you certainly don't look like a square yellow sponge to me, sleep now, please?"

He closed his eyes as she snuggled into his chest.

"Yes ma'am, my fair Maximista."

"Thank you."

The last sound Spinelli heard before sleep finally claimed him was Maxie's whispered "Love you."

He smiled.

"I love you too, baby."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

A/N: Hey, my life has been hectic lately, but I finally got some free time, so here's the next chapter. I hope its okay as it is the product of extreme boredom due to being without T.V. or Internet for a week. That also explains why it's so long as I had nothing else to do and this was my main form of entertainment. Plus, I also developed a massive case of writer's block, which is gone now, yay! So, enjoy and please review.

******

"Hey, Spinelli, how you doing?"

Spinelli looked up from his laptop and smiled.

"Stone Cold, please come in, what brings you to the Jackal's room in the middle of the afternoon?"

Jason entered the room and sat in the chair beside his bed. He sighed.

"Spinelli, I've been avoiding bringing this up because I didn't want to slow down your recovery or cause you to have a setback, but now that you're doing better, I think it's time we address some things."

He gave Jason a look of concern as he slowly closed his computer, drumming his fingers on top of it nervously.

"You know about the joint, don't you?"

Jason nodded.

"Sam found it in your room, what were you thinking, Spinelli, I thought you gave that crap up a long time ago?"

He sighed.

"I did, but Maximista and I had a fight after I caught her in the arms of the Mob Prince and I was so heartbroken, I had an err in judgment, got high and drove under the influence and now I have to pay for it for the rest of my life."

"I'm not going to lecture you, alright? You made a mistake but I honestly believe you've learned your lesson from it, so if you promise me it'll never happen again, I'll never bring it up again, but if you're gonna make a habit of this and be getting high all the time like you used to, then you're gonna have to find somewhere else to live, I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be. I won't have drugs in my house, Spinelli."

He nodded.

"I understand, you have my word, it'll never happen again, my use of recreational herb is truly a thing of the past."

Jason nodded and they shook on it.

"So," Jason asked, as he leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers together. "any idea when they're springing you?"

Spinelli shook his head.

"Not yet; they said possibly Monday, but they think I should have a session with Dr. Winters first. I, of course, deemed it unnecessary, but the medical ones insisted, so alas, The Jackal must succumb to having his innermost thoughts and feelings pried out of him by this fine institution's resident head-shrinker, who shall no doubt deem him Shady Brook material and condemn him to a life of straight jackets and padded cells."

Jason laughed.

"Boy, you certainly have a flair for the dramatic, don't you? Trust me when I say that I doubt Lainey Winters is gonna condemn you to the likes of Shady Brook, she probably just wants to see how you're adjusting since your accident."

Spinelli nodded.

"The Jackal prays that Stone Cold is correct in his assessment concerning the fine doctor's motives toward him, for he most adamantly refuses to return to that place for any reason, I'll kill myself first."

Upon hearing his friend's dire pronouncement, Jason crossed his arms over his chest and gave Spinelli a stern look, shaking his head in denial.

"No you won't and don't you ever let me hear you say anything like that again, do you understand me? Suicide isn't something to joke about, ever."

Spinelli glared at him.

"Who's joking, I meant every word I just said, now if you don't mind, the Jackal isn't feeling well and wishes to lie down and rest now, goodbye, Stone Cold."

He parked his chair beside the bed and started to transfer himself onto the mattress, when he suddenly lost his balance and fell, landing on the floor, in a heap.

"Owwwwww, damn it!" he cursed, as he struggled to pull himself up onto the bed, ignoring his mentor's outstretched hand.

"Spinelli let me help you."

"I don't need help from you or anyone else for that matter, now please just leave and let me sleep."

After managing to pull himself up onto the bed, he collapsed against the pillow, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his face from the exertion. Jason poured a glass of water from the pitcher sitting on the table and handed it to him. He took it and downed it in one gulp, trying not to wince as pain shot up his spine like fire. Holding the now empty cup, Spinelli glared at Jason.

"Why are you still here? I could've gotten my own water; I don't need you for that. I may be crippled, but I'm not completely helpless you know, I am still capable of getting a fucking glass of water for myself."

"I'm sorry; I was just trying to help."

"Well, maybe I don't want your help, why don't you go shoot somebody, that seems to be what you do best, who knows, maybe you can manage to start a mob war, perhaps get some more innocent children shot."

Jason just stared at Spinelli sadly before turning and walking out without a backward glance. As soon as his master was gone, the grasshopper picked up the empty cup and threw it at the door as hard as he could, before curling into a ball and sobbing as he realized that with the utterance of those hateful, hurtful words, he'd probably driven his best friend away, forevermore, never to return.

*****

Maxie sat at her desk at Crimson, bored out of her mind. It wasn't fair that Kate got to jet off to France to party on a yacht for two weeks while she was stuck here answering phones and running endless errands, but she figured that was one of the perks of being the boss, you could take a vacation pretty much whenever you felt like it. She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of Britney Spear's 'Circus' playing, she briefly wondered who in the building had the radio up so loud she could hear it all the way in here, when she realized the music was coming from her cell phone. Shaking her head in annoyance at her own stupidity, she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Maximista, is everything alright, I was just about to leave a message, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, sweetheart, sorry, I had a bit of a blonde moment and didn't recognize my ring tone, I guess I was off in la la land for awhile. How are you doing?"

He sighed.

"The Jackal fears he may have alienated Stone Cold forever or at the very least pissed him off royally. You have to help me fix this."

Maxie snorted. So what else was new, Jason was always mad about something.

"Well, why don't you just call him and apologize for whatever it was and I'm sure he'll forgive you; he is your best friend, after all. He can never stay mad at you, baby, you know that."

Spinelli laughed sarcastically.

"Gee, why didn't I think of that? Oh, wait, I did, he's not answering the house phone or his cell phone."

Maxie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess, you want me to go talk to him and smooth things over, right?"

"Would you, please? I'll owe you big-time."

"You're right about that. Alright, I'll go talk to Jason and try to straighten this out, but you owe me, Spinelli."

"Anything you want, my love; name it and it's yours."

"A romantic evening once you're home; just the two of us."

"Done, I do have one request, however."

"What might that be?"

"You remember the dress you wore to the Campbell's benefit for women's heart health?"

"The red one with the gloves and the black shawl?"

"Uh-huh, do you still have it?"

"Unfortunately, no, that dress was just on loan for that event, but I promise I'll find something you'll like."

"Okay, I'll let you surprise me then."

Maxie smiled as she picked up her purse and left the building.

"Trust me, babe, it'll knock your socks off."

"I'm looking forward to it, call me after you talk to Stone Cold, okay?"

"Okay, I'm on my way over there now, I love you."

"I love you, too, bye."

"Bye."

Maxie hung up and slipped the phone into her purse as she got into her car and drove toward the penthouse. She had moved her stuff into Mac's place after Spinelli caught her with Johnny when she was positive he was gonna break up with her. After she got this mess between the guys straightened out, she'd have to ask Jason to let her move back in or maybe she'd convince Spinelli it was time to get their own place. She pulled into the parking lot of Jason's building and rode the elevator up to the penthouse. She knocked on the door, no answer. She knocked again, impatiently.

"Come on, Jason, I know you're in there, answer the door already. Fine, I'm coming in, ready or not, if you're naked or doing some mob-related thing you don't want me to know about, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Maxie opened the door and walked into the living room, it was empty.

"Hello, Jason, are you here? It's Maxie, look I know Spinelli said some really mean and rude things to you at the hospital, but he didn't mean any of it, I promise." She sighed impatiently, hands on her hips. Where was he, anyway? She had just made up her mind he wasn't home and was about to leave, when she heard laughter coming from the kitchen; feminine laughter at that. Frowning in bewilderment as to the identity of Jason's lady friend, Maxie strode forward, pushed open the kitchen door and burst out laughing at the sight before her. The kitchen looked as if a bomb had gone off in it. There was flour everywhere, including all over Jason and Sam who were sitting on the counter eating chocolate icing directly from the can with spoons and laughing hysterically. They looked up as Maxie entered and smiled sheepishly. She stood with her arms crossed, shaking her head as Jason hopped off the counter, wiping his hands on his jeans.

"What do you need, Maxie?"

"I came to talk to you about Spinelli, but first, what happened in here? It looks like a bakery exploded and you look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy."

Sam jumped down from the counter and came to stand beside Jason trying unsuccessfully to wipe some of the flour off of him.

"He was trying to help me make a cake for Molly's birthday and well, we had a little mishap with the flour. I'm gonna get a broom and clean this up."

Maxie nodded.

"I have a better idea, why not just sweep it all into that gigantic trashcan over there, then carry it outside to the balcony, dump it over the railing and let the wind blow it away."

Sam raised an eyebrow, skeptically.

"Gee, that sounds like a great idea, except I doubt the people in the street would appreciate having a huge tub of flour dumped on their heads from the top floor of a building."

Maxie shrugged.

"True, they probably wouldn't like it very much, but do you have a better idea of how to get rid of it, 'cause I'm tapped. Why couldn't you just buy Molly a birthday cake like a normal person, why did you have to go all Betty Crocker and try to bake one?"

Sam shrugged as she walked into the living room and returned with a dust buster in her hand.

"My mom suggested that but I thought it would be more fun to bake it myself. It's not my fault I can't cook, I've always sucked in the kitchen, but I thought I'd do something nice for my little sister and at least make the attempt, sue me."

Maxie watched as Sam sucked up the flour with the dust buster. Once the kitchen was clean, they walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"So," Sam asked, as she turned toward her friend, tucking her legs under her on the couch. "What's the deal between Jason and Spinelli, anyway? Did they have a fight or something? Jason looked pretty angry when I got here."

Maxie nodded.

"Apparently, Spinelli called me just as I was about to leave work and he sounded really upset, like he'd been crying and said that he said something that made Jason really mad and begged me to come over here and talk to him, so here I am."

Sam's brow creased in confusion.

"Wow, those two never fight, I wonder what happened?"

Maxie shrugged.

I dunno, Spinelli didn't say, I'll ask Jason though as soon as he comes down."

"Ask me what?"

As if on cue, Jason came downstairs, dressed in clean clothes, his hair wet and slicked back. He spun his black desk chair around and sat down; resting his hands on his legs and looked at Maxie expectantly.

"What exactly happened at the hospital? Spinelli called me freaking out, he was really upset."

Jason sighed, rubbing a hand wearily over his face.

"He was sitting in his wheelchair working on the computer and he tried to transfer himself on to the bed. He lost his balance and fell and when I tried to help him, he started yelling at me; told me he didn't need help from me or anyone else and that I should go start a mob war and get some more innocent children shot 'cause that's what I do best."

He looked up to find both women staring at him, their mouths hanging open in shock. Sam shook her head in disbelief.

"_Spinelli_ said that to _you_? That doesn't sound like him, he hero worships you."

Jason nodded.

"Under normal circumstances, yeah, but he's been through a lot lately with the accident and well, to be perfectly honest, I don't think he's handling it as well as he's trying to make everyone believe he is."

Maxie nodded, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too, lately and something happened between us the other day that didn't really help improve his self-esteem either."

Jason stood up.

"Hold that thought, I'll be right back."

He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with three cans of Coke. He handed two of them to Maxie and Sam before resuming his previous position in the chair, gesturing for Maxie to continue with her story.

"So, what happened?" He asked, popping the top on his soda and taking a drink.

She fiddled nervously with her soda can, bending the tab back and forth until it popped off.

"What I'm about to say, cannot, under any circumstances leave this room, Spinelli would feel completely betrayed and humiliated if he knew I'd told anyone what I'm about to say, so he can never find out you know, promise?"

They nodded in unison.

"Of course we promise, we won't say a word, what happened?"

"We were taking a shower together and he wanted to make love to me, but he couldn't manage to get um, you know…and afterward we were lying on his bed and he told me that I would be better off with Johnny or someone who could give me what he no longer can."

Sam reached over and tenderly brushed the hair off her friend's forehead.

"Poor guy, what'd you tell him?"

"I told him that just because he's in that chair it doesn't make him any less of a man in my eyes and that there's more than one way for people to express their love for each other and that he would always have my love, no matter what. I'm not gonna stop loving him just because he can't walk anymore. I'm not that shallow or that heartless, he's stuck with me forever whether he likes it or not."

Sam grinned and stood up.

"Somehow, I don't think he's complaining, trust me. I have to go to the mall to get a birthday present for Molly, you wanna come?"

Maxie smiled and grabbed her purse.

"Sure, Spinelli and I have a romantic evening planned once he's out of the hospital and I wanna get a new dress."

"Okay, let's go. Bye, Jason."

"Bye," He called, as he picked up his cell phone and noticed the eight missed calls from his best friend. He paced back and forth across the room as he listened to it ring on the other end.

"C'mon, Spinelli, pick up."

"Hello, you've reached The Jackal, sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but if you'll leave a message, I'll get back to you ASAP. Thanks."

Jason sighed as the voicemail picked up and hung up without leaving a message. What he needed to say would be better face to face, anyway so he grabbed his keys and headed toward the hospital. Spinelli wasn't in his room when Jason got there, so he walked to the nurse's station.

"Hey, Liz, I'm looking for Spinelli, I really need to talk to him, but he's not in his room, have you seen him?"

She looked up from the patient chart she was reading and smiled.

"Jason, hi, yeah he went down to the cafeteria for some ice cream after his P.T. session."

"Okay, I'll look for him there, thanks."

She smiled.

"You're welcome."

He took the elevator to the first floor and entered the cafeteria where he spotted his friend sitting alone at a table, absently playing with an ice cream sundae, seemingly lost in thought. He walked over and sat down.

"Hey, Spinelli,"

Spinelli looked up from his bowl and smiled weakly.

"Hey, Jason."

Jason stared at him in shock.

"Spinelli, are you sure you're feeling okay?"

He shrugged.

"I guess, why?"

"You called me Jason, not Stone Cold; you never call me by my name, what's wrong?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing, I'm fine, honest."

"Bull, you are not fine, you haven't touched your orange soda and usually you drink that stuff like it's going out of style and your ice cream has melted into soup, now what's the matter with you?"

He sighed and looked Jason square in the eyes.

"The grasshopper fears he has made his master unspeakably angry by the harshness of his words earlier today and he humbly begs said master's pardon."

"I'm not mad at you, okay? I understand that you're frustrated by not being able to do the things that used to come so easily to you; I get that, I really do, it's okay."

He shook his head.

"No, it isn't, I was completely out of line making those comments about young Michael and you starting mob wars, I'm so sorry, Stone Cold."

He lowered his head and began toying with his melted ice cream, stirring it around and around in the bowl. Finally, he licked the spoon and tipped the bowl up and drank the ice cream, then he carried the Styrofoam bowl over to the trashcan and tossed it in. Going back to the table, he grabbed his soda and left the cafeteria, heading for the elevator with Jason walking beside him. Jason pushed the button and they rode in silence to Spinelli's room. When they stepped off the elevator, they met Patrick in the hallway and he was smiling.

"Good news, Spinelli, I have your discharge papers and as soon as you sign them, you're free to go."

He grinned as Patrick handed him the clipboard and he signed the papers, then he turned to Jason, a worried frown on his face.

"Stone Cold, how did you get here?"

Jason looked confused by his friend's question.

"I drove my car, why?"

Spinelli sighed.

"As I feared, my chair won't fit in your car, how am I supposed to get home?"

Jason bit his lip, lost in thought for a moment, then his face lit up and he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Carly, it's me, listen I need a favor, Spinelli was just discharged from the hospital and his wheelchair won't fit in my car, can I borrow Jax's van? Oh wonderful, thanks so much, I owe you one. Okay, see you then, bye."

He hung up and turned to Spinelli, smiling.

"Problem solved, Jax and Carly are going to come pick you up in their van. It's big enough for your chair and I'll follow in my car."

Spinelli smiled and hugged Jason, blinking back the tears that sprung unbidden to his eyes.

"Thank you, Stone Cold for everything you've done for me. I remember when I first showed up at your door with the Blonde One, I was just some weird stoner kid who happened to be good with computers. I knew you didn't like me, but you still let me stay in the regrettably pink room because I was trying to help Lulu prove that her mom didn't kill Rick Webber, but then, after Laura's name was cleared, you still let me stay with you, why exactly did you do that?"

Jason shrugged as he returned his friend's hug.

"I dunno, kid, I guess you kinda grew on me. Besides, you've helped me out more times than I can count with your super cool cyber skills."

Suddenly, Jason stopped in his tracks and rubbed his eyes, wearily.

"Oh God, did I just say super cool cyber skills? I really have been hanging out with you too long, I'm starting to speak Jackal now; I definitely need to start getting more sleep; otherwise, next thing you know, I'm gonna start calling people by nicknames instead of their real names."

Spinelli shook his head.

"Uh-uh, you cannot steal the Jackal's trademark, its copy written."

Jason laughed and slapped him on the shoulder affectionately as they left the building, just as Jax and Max pulled up in the van with Diane in the back.

They got out and Spinelli grinned at Diane.

"Well if it isn't the brusque lady of justice, how are you?"

She returned his smile; she'd always had an undeniable soft spot for the quirky young man.

"I'm fine, Mr. Grasshopper and yourself, how are you holding up since your accident?"

He shrugged.

"It's been tough, but I'm adjusting, although my progress is coming much slower than I'd like for it to."

Jason smiled at them.

"Listen to Mr. Modesty, he's doing great. Where's Carly?" He asked as he helped Spinelli into the van and they loaded his chair into the back.

"She gave Mercedes the day off and took Morgan to the park; I'm meeting them there as soon as we get Spinelli home. I was at the Metro Court when she called saying you needed the van and I ran into Max and Diane having lunch so they opted to tag along for the ride."

Jason nodded and turned to Spinelli.

"I'm gonna go, I'll see you at home, okay?"

He nodded.

"Alright, bye, Stone Cold."

"Bye."

After Jax got back in the van, Spinelli turned to him, a huge grin lighting up his face.

"I have a huge favor to ask of you."


End file.
